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Property Rights and the Political Organization of Agriculture

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Author Info
Jonathan Conning () (Hunter College, Department of Economics)
James A. Robinson () (Harvard University, Department of Government)

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Abstract

The modern theory of agrarian organization has studied how the economic environment determines organizational form under the assumption of stable property rights to land. The political economy literature has modelled the endogenous determination of property rights. In this paper we analyze a general equilibrium model in which the economic organization of agriculture and the political equilibrium determining the distribution of property rights are jointly determined. In particular, because the form of organization may affect the probability and distribution of benefits from agrarian reform, it may be determined in anticipation of this impact. Property rights may then be secured at the expense of economic efficiency. The model provides a framework for understanding why in some contexts the redistribution of land is chanelled primarily via land sale and tenancy markets but via politics and conflict in others. We test some implications of the theory using a five-decade panel that traces changes in the extent of tenancy over five decades across fifteen Indian states.

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Paper provided by Hunter College: Department of Economics in its series Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers with number 405.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:htr:hcecon:405

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Keywords: Agrarian Organization; Political Economy; Property Rights Reforms.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation
F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Jean O. Lanjouw & Philip I. Levy, 2002. "Untitled: A Study of Formal and Informal Property Rights in Urban Ecuador," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 986-1019, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1997. "Political Economics and Macroeconomic Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 1759, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. de Meza, David & Gould, J R, 1992. "The Social Efficiency of Private Decisions to Enforce Property Rights," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 561-80, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Bourguignon, Francois & Verdier, Thierry, 2000. "Oligarchy, democracy, inequality and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 285-313, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1974. "Incentives and Risk Sharing in Sharecropping," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(2), pages 219-55, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Legros, Patrick & Newman, Andrew F., 1996. "Wealth Effects, Distribution, and the Theory of Organization," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 312-341, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2000. "Land Reform, Poverty Reduction, And Growth: Evidence From India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 389-430, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Grossman, Herschel I, 1994. "Production, Appropriation, and Land Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 705-12, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Karen Macours & Alain de Janvry & Elisabeth Sadoulet, 2004. "Insecurity of Property Rights and Matching in the Tenancy Market," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series 992, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
  10. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 903-37, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-98, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Binswanger, Hans P. & Deininger, Klaus & Feder, Gershon, 1995. "Power, distortions, revolt and reform in agricultural land relations," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery† & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 42, pages 2659-2772 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Dixit, Avinash K & Londregan, John, 1994. "The Determinants of Success of Special Interests in Redistributive Politics," CEPR Discussion Papers 1054, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Alesina, Alberto & Tabellini, Guido, 1990. "A Positive Theory of Fiscal Deficits and Government Debt," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(3), pages 403-14, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Jonathan Conning, 2002. "Latifundia Economics," Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers 02/1, Hunter College: Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  16. Besley, Timothy & Coate, Stephen, 1998. "Sources of Inefficiency in a Representative Democracy: A Dynamic Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 139-56, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Horowitz, Andrew W, 1993. "Time Paths of Land Reform: A Theoretical Model of Reform Dynamics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 1003-10, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jin, Songqing & Deininger, Klaus & Nagarajan, Hari, 2006. "Equity and efficiency impacts of rural land rental restrictions: Evidence from India," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21305, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  2. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Yadav, Vandana, 2008. "Impact of Land Reform on Productivity, Land Value and Human Capital Investment: Household Level Evidence from West Bengal," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6277, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  3. Catherine Norman, 2009. "Rule of Law and the Resource Curse: Abundance Versus Intensity," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(2), pages 183-207, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Jonathan Conning & Michael Kevane, 2005. "Freedom, Servitude and Voluntary Contract," Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers 408, Hunter College: Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2007. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation : productivity and equity impacts in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4454, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  6. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing & Nagarajan, Hari K., 2007. "Land reforms, poverty reduction, and economic growth : evidence from India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4448, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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