IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ahe/dtaehe/1701.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The fruit of inequality: wine, efficiency, agrarian contracts and property rights in Catalonia (1898-1935)

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Garrido

    (Universitat Jaume I, Spain)

Abstract

With the aim of drawing lessons that can act as a reference for reforms in today’s developing countries, economic historians are showing a renewed interest in the European experiences of agrarian reform. But in some developing countries property rights over the land show‘oddities’ with respect to the ‘Western canon’. Drawing on the case of Catalonia, this paper maintains that, if their work is to be useful, historians should be sensitive to the fact that in Europe – including the United Kingdom – oddities were not rare either. In Catalan vineyards, sharecropping contracts that granted the sharecropper ownership rights over the land were in widespread usage. Around 1900, sharecroppers’ rights became insecure, which led to several dysfunctions that the paper analyses.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Garrido, 2017. "The fruit of inequality: wine, efficiency, agrarian contracts and property rights in Catalonia (1898-1935)," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 1701, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
  • Handle: RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:1701
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://media.timtul.com/media/web_aehe/dt-aehe-1701_20240108094405.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lamoreaux, Naomi R., 2011. "The Mystery of Property Rights: A U.S. Perspective," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(2), pages 275-306, June.
    2. Barzel,Yoram, 1997. "Economic Analysis of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521597135, February.
    3. Samuel Garrido & Salvador Calatayud, 2011. "The price of improvements: agrarian contracts and agrarian development in nineteenth‐century eastern Spain," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(2), pages 598-620, May.
    4. Ackerberg, Daniel A. & Botticini, Maristella, 2000. "The Choice of Agrarian Contracts in Early Renaissance Tuscany: Risk Sharing, Moral Hazard, or Capital Market Imperfections?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 241-257, July.
    5. Garrido, Samuel, 2011. "Fixed-rent contracts and investment incentives. A comparative analysis of English tenant right," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 66-82, January.
    6. Keith Hartley & Todd Sandler (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Defense Economics," Handbook of Defense Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 1.
    7. James Simpson, 2004. "Selling to reluctant drinkers: the British wine market, 1860–1914," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 57(1), pages 80-108, February.
    8. Juan Carmona & James Simpson, 2012. "Explaining contract choice: vertical coordination, sharecropping, and wine in Europe, 1850–1950," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(3), pages 887-909, August.
    9. James Simpson & Juan Carmona, 2015. "Too many workers or not enough land? Why land reform fails in Spain during the 1930s," Documentos de Trabajo de la Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria 1509, Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
    10. Juan Carmona & Joan R. Rosés, 2012. "Land markets and agrarian backwardness (Spain, 1904-1934)," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 16(1), pages 74-96, February.
    11. Marc Badia‐Miró & Enric Tello & Francesc Valls & Ramon Garrabou, 2010. "The Grape Phylloxera Plague As A Natural Experiment: The Upkeep Of Vineyards In Catalonia (Spain), 1858–1935," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(1), pages 39-61, March.
    12. Enric Tello & Marc Badia-Miró, 2011. "Land-use profiles of agrarian income and land ownership inequality in the province of Barcelona in mid-nineteenth century," Documentos de Trabajo de la Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria 1101, Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samuel Garrido, 2010. "Mejorar y quedarse. La cesión de tierra a rentas por debajo del equilibrio en la Valencia del siglo XIX," Documentos de Trabajo de la Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria 1009, Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
    2. Juan Carmona & Joan R. Rosés & James Simpson, 2015. "Spanish Land Reform in the 1930s: Economic Necessity or Political Opportunism?," Working Papers 0090, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    3. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2011. "Appropriation, violent enforcement, and transaction costs: a critical survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 227-253, April.
    4. Vahabi,Mehrdad, 2019. "The Political Economy of Predation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107591370, November.
    5. Marc Badia-Miro & Enric Tello, 2013. "An agency-oriented model to explain vine-growing specialization in the province of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) in the mid-nineteenth century," Working Papers in Economics 290, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    6. Lluis Parcerisas & Joan Marull & Joan Pino & Enric Tello & Francesc Coll & Corina Basnou, 2012. "Land use changes, landscape ecology and their socioeconomic driving forces in the Spanish Mediterranean coast (the Maresme County, 1850-2005)," Working Papers in Economics 273, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    7. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2011. "The Economics of Destructive Power," Chapters, in: Derek L. Braddon & Keith Hartley (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Conflict, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Alexandra Benham & Lee Benham, 2010. "The Costs of Exchange," Chapters, in: Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Transaction Cost Economics, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Boudreau, James W. & Shunda, Nicholas, 2012. "On the evolution of prize perceptions in contests," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 498-501.
    10. Kamilia Loukil, 2020. "Dynamic Panel Data Analysis Of The Impact Of Intellectual Property Rights On Entrepreneurship In Emerging And Developing Countries," Oradea Journal of Business and Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 40-48, March.
    11. Susan J. Guthrie & Hines, James R. Jr., 2011. "U.S. DEFENSE CONTRACTS DURING the TAX EXPENDITURE BATTLES of the 1980s," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(2), pages 731-751, June.
    12. Aaron Grau & Martin Odening & Matthias Ritter, 2020. "Land price diffusion across borders – the case of Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(50), pages 5446-5463, October.
    13. Arvanitidis Paschalis & Kollias Christos & Anastasopoulos Konstantinos, 2014. "Is There an International Convergence in Defence Burdens? Some Initial Findings," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 611-620, December.
    14. Wim Marneffe & Lode Vereeck, 2011. "The meaning of regulatory costs," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 341-356, December.
    15. Mérel, Pierre & Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel & Paroissien, Emmanuel, 2021. "How big is the “lemons” problem? Historical evidence from French wines," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Meina Cai & Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Murtazashvili & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2020. "Individualism and governance of the commons," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 175-195, July.
    17. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai Foss, 2001. "Theoretical isolation in contract theory: suppressing margins and entrepreneurship," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 313-339.
    18. Javier Puche & Carmen González Martínez, 2018. "Strikes and Rural Unrest during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1936): A Geographic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, December.
    19. Dimitrios Doulos & Odysseus Katsaitis & George A. Zombanakis, 2021. "How to Make Butter out of Guns: The Turkish Case and the Greek Bitter Lesson," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 1055-1072.
    20. Mubarik Salifu & James Atta Peprah & William Godfred Cantah, 2024. "Legal Systems, Property Rights, and Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agrarian contracts; Property rights; Catalonia; Wine; Sharecropping; Land reform.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N53 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N54 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: 1913-
    • P14 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Property Rights
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:1701. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Andreu Seguí Beltrán (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeheeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.