science

Land Reform in Developing Countries

Land Reform in Developing Countries is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Land Reform in Developing Countries rather than just read about it. In short: Land Reform in Developing Countries: Property Rights and Property Wrongs is a 2009 book by the Leontief Prize–winning economist Michael Lipton. It is a comprehensive review of land reform issues in developing countries and focuses on the evidence of which land reforms have worked and which have not.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Land Reform in Developing Countries: Property Rights and Property Wrongs is a 2009 book by the Leontief Prize–winning economist Michael Lipton. It is a comprehensive review of land reform issues in developing countries and focuses on the evidence of which land reforms have worked and which have not.

Summary The introduction defines land reform as comprising "laws with the main goal of reducing poverty by substantially increasing the proportion of farmland controlled by the poor, and thereby their income, power or status"(the appendix gives a more precise definition). It then expands on what is meant by poverty and how land reform still "matters", especially as according to Lipton "land is poor people's main productive asset" and "at least 1.5 billion people today have some farmland as a result of land reform, and are less poor, or not poor, as a result." However, for Lipton, "huge, inefficient land inequalities remain, or have re-emerged, in many low-income countries. Land reform remains both 'unfinished business' (...) and alive and well." Chapter 1 analyses the goals of stakeholders involved in land reform: public authorities, landowners, farmers and other directly affected persons as well as the goals for land reform advocated by outsiders, from aid donors to economists and philosophers. Land reform normally advances one widely shared goal, equality of opportunity, but it can retard another, liberty to enjoy 'legitimate' property rights. This chapter looks at the trade-offs and how various types of claimed land reform affect these goals and others, notably poverty reduction, sustainability, economic efficiency and economic growth. Chapter 2 explores the impact of land reform and land policy on farm and non-farm growth and efficiency. It looks at the long debate on whether "there is an inverse relationship (IR) in labour-abundant countries", such that "small farms produce more, per hectare per year, than large farms". Lipton concludes that careful and recent work in Africa and elsewhere confirms that, "mainly due to the IR plus land scarcity, redistributive land reform in developing countries normally increases farm output." Chapters 3-6 review the experience with different types of policies, variously labelled as land reform. They ask: are these genuine land reforms in the sense of seeking, and moving towards, "farmland-based reduction of gross, unearned inequality and hence of poverty"? These main types of land reform are:

the paradigm: 'classic' land reform, leading to land transfers from big to small farms (chapter 3) laws to stop, restrict, register, enable or encourage tenancy, overall or for particular types (chapter 4) other tenurial rules, for example titling of land ownership or control (chapter 4) collectivisation into State farming, collective farming or co-operative farming, which according to Lipton have normally proved a 'terrible detour' or 'land deform' (chapter 5) decollectivisation (which may be land reform if resulting land ownership is fairly equal) (chapter 5) other alleged paths to the aims of land reform: land consolidation, settlement, tax reform, etc. (chapter 6) new wave (decentralised, market-friendly and/or non-confiscatory) land reform (chapter 6) Chapter 7 reviews the persistent allegation that land reform is dead, or was so effectively avoided that it never lived. Lipton asks the questions: Where has it happened on the ground, how much and when? He also asks: Is land reform still happening and where it is not dead, ought it to be? Lipton concludes: "In many developing countries, land reform is a live, often burning, issue ... The debate about land reform is alive and well."

Criticisms The book overall received positive reviews and endorsements (see below). However, Andrew Dorward did have some "minor gripes" within his very positive review. He wished that it did not finish so abruptly and that it had a final chapter "summing up the main lessons from the book for the next generation of researchers, analysts and practitioners in the field." He would also have liked to have seen "more explicit attention to interactions of land reform with gender and the environment." Abhijit Sen, while giving it an overall positive review, found that:

"To put it very bluntly, even after reading and re-reading, the final big picture may remain somewhat hazy to a reader seeking full clarity on matters involved. But this is perhaps what Lipton the economist really wants: to show that deep issues are involved, that many are currently being debated, and that the debate will continue." He also finished his review with some further critiques, especially in relation to land reform in India:

"Indian readers will find much information in the book about other countries that is not usually available, and a flavour of issues still current elsewhere. On the Indian situation, however, there is no clarion call in this book. If anything, there are references to the Planning Commission, and a sense that there is not much land left in really large holdings and that the way forward may only involve a guarantee to the poor of homestead land with at least garden plots. The book does not deal specifically with tribal land issues in India or the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, which is the most recent land reform measure. And, although mentioned, rural resistance to the acquisition of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes is not a part of its discourse. The definition of land reform that Lipton uses limits him to considering only the distribution of farmland and does not extend to the conversion of land use from sown area to another category. Lipton does not reveal his mind about the new accumulation of land that is occurring across the world. This is a pity, because much of what is presently happening in China, India, and even other parts of the world including Africa, cannot really be understood without extending the canvas of land issues beyond the farm itself."

Endorsements The book received positive endorsements from a wide range of authors, including Jeffrey Sachs, Nicholas Stern, Amartya Sen, Gordon Conway, Nancy Birdsall, Paul Collier, Akin Adesina and Pramod K. Mishra.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Land Reform in Developing Countries

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Land Reform in Developing Countries claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Land Reform in Developing Countries before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Land Reform in Developing Countries ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Land Reform in Developing Countries

In research: Land Reform in Developing Countries appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Land Reform in Developing Countries in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Land Reform in Developing Countries is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 non-fiction books, Books about economic inequality, Current affairs books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Land Reform in Developing Countries outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Land Reform in Developing Countries in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Land Reform in Developing Countries means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Land Reform in Developing Countries in simple terms?

Why does Land Reform in Developing Countries matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Land Reform in Developing Countries?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Land Reform in Developing Countries.