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Access to land and rural poverty in developing countries: theory and evidence from Guatemala

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  • Bandeira, Pablo
  • Sumpsi, Jose Maria

Abstract

The lack of consensus on the social and economic impact from access to land continues to generate heated political and academic debates. The existing empirical literature does not consider possible opportunity costs, factors that can affect this impact and different time horizons. Toward solving this problem, this article elaborates a theoretical argument on the potential benefits, opportunity costs and asset accumulation dynamics that may derive from gaining access to or increasing the size of rural land in developing countries. Empirical tests of the argument and poverty reduction assessment are then carried out using household data from Guatemala. Finally, policy and future research implications are derived.

Suggested Citation

  • Bandeira, Pablo & Sumpsi, Jose Maria, 2009. "Access to land and rural poverty in developing countries: theory and evidence from Guatemala," MPRA Paper 13365, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:13365
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Access to land; rural poverty; off-farm income; Guatemala;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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