The Great Curse: Land Concentration in History and in Development

by Albert Berry

Overview

Land concentration has been a central feature of the history of nearly all empires, regions, and countries, and has underpinned the creation of the state and of inegalitarian and elitist societies. It is the key feature of the "monopolization model", whereby a small group attains access to the great bulk of available land, labor, and capital to achieve a high level of income and wealth. The degree and means of land concentration, as well as the elite control of labor, have varied across cultures and time, but are responsible for an enormous amount of economic and social damage. In The Great Curse, Albert Berry reviews the main episodes of agrarian reform undertaken in the twentieth century to remedy land concentration, including those of major communist and capitalist countries. He provides an understanding of when landholding inequality arises, what implications it has for development in the short and long term, and what potential policies can fix it. Berry makes the case that agrarian reform has resulted in enormous benefits, from the lowering of income inequality and social depravation to a rise in total agricultural output and faster overall growth. Despite the benefits, he finds that most reforms fell far short of their desired outcomes due to conflict and partial or ineffective implementation. In some cases, large communal or state farms were created rather than small private family farms, and in other cases, too little land was redistributed or land was allotted to the wrong groups. Finally, Berry draws on various land reform policies in Sub-Saharan Africa--the only part of the developing world where over half of the labor force is still found in agriculture--with a view to providing useful lessons for its present and future policy in this domain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197782699
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/25/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	504
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Albert Berry is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on agriculture, labor markets, and income distribution in developing countries, with special attention to Latin America and Colombia. His recent work examines the economics of climate change and the long-term implications of land concentration. He has previously worked at the Ford Foundation, the Planning Commission of Colombia, the World Bank, as well as other policy institutions.

Table of Contents

Glossary Introduction Section I: The History and Microeconomics of Land Concentration Chapter 1. Land Concentration: Historical Origins, Socio-Economic Effects, Political Logic, and Surrounding Narratives Chapter 2. Land Concentration in Early Modern European Development and Its Intellectual Legacy Chapter 3. Economics and the Welfare Impacts of Farm Size and Tenure Section II: The Mixed Record of Twentieth Century Attempts at Land Reform Chapter 4. Assessing the Success of Land Reforms Chapter 5. Land Reform under Communist Regimes Chapter 6. Land reform under Capitalist Regimes in 20th Century Latin America: Varying Degrees of Failure Chapter 7. Twentieth Century Land Reforms in the East Asian Tigers, India, the Middle East and the Philippines: Varying Degrees of Success Section III. Implications of Past Global History for the Future in Sub-Saharan Africa and Elsewhere Chapter 8. The Last Battleground for Rural Land Issues: Sub-Saharan Africa Chapter 9. Agrarian Reform in World History: Success and Failure Bibliography Index