Land reform and peasant revolution. Evidence from 1930s Spain

We analyze the impact of failed land reform on peasant conflict in Spain before the Civil War using a municipal data set with monthly observations of peasant conflict in Andalusia from April 1931 to July 1936. We find temporary occupations of land were rare and not correlated with either organized reaction to land reform or the existence of a large pool of beneficiaries. Potential beneficiaries of reform struck more often in the period of land reform deployment, especially in towns with a legacy of domination by a noble family and no previous experience of reform. There is some evidence that actual land reform implementation reduced strikes, most prominently in towns that had not been affected by land reform until the 1930s. We argue both sets of evidence suggest that faster re-distribution would have reduced conflict and that the effects of incomplete land reform were stronger in towns with no previous history of land reform.     

Liberalizing rural-to-urban construction land transfers in China: Distribution effects

China's land market is characterized by a dual urban-rural system, with the government in control of rural-urban land transfers. In recent years, different types of pilot projects have been implemented to experiment with liberalizing markets for rural-urban construction land transfers. The objective of this study is to gain insights into the distributional effects of three different types of land liberalization rules by making a comparative analysis of three pilot projects carried out under each of these liberalization rules. We find that transfers facing more liberalized rules result in higher shares of land revenue flowing to the rural sector and thereby reduce the ruralurban income gap. But direct transfers between rural and urban land users also contribute to growing income inequality within the rural sector, as households living in urban fringes benefit relatively more from such transfers. A tradable quota system can reduce the impact of location on the price of land, and thereby contribute to a more equal distribution of the revenues of rural-urban land transfers within the rural sector.     

The profits of excludability and transferability in redistributive land reform in central Namibia

Policies which redistribute property rights to land can improve the well-being of rural households and can have overall growth effects. In many cases, however, land reforms are driven mainly by politically justified objectives. Under such circumstances, little emphasis is placed on whether and, if so, how property rights can increase productivity. Following 18 years of land reform implementation in Namibia, we evaluated 65 beneficiaries in Namibia. We assess to which degree land rights affects their farm income. The study focuses on Namibia’s two main commercial land reform instruments, namely the Farm Unit Resettlement Scheme and the Affirmative Action Loan Scheme. We find evidence that the majority of land reform projects are not profitable. Further, our study confirms the importance of the right to restrict land access compared with the right to transfer. The long-term leasehold contract seemingly provides sufficient incentives to make productive use of the land.     

Rural women and state policy: The Latin American agrarian reform experience

This review of 13 Latin American agrarian reforms shows that most have directly benefited only men. It is argued that this is largely because of the common designation of ‘households’ as the beneficiaries of an agrarian reform and the subsequent incorporation of only male household heads into the new agrarian reform structures. It is shown that a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for rural women to benefit on par with men is that they too be designated as beneficiaries. Women as well as men must be given access to land or the opportunity to participate within the agrarian cooperatives or state farms promoted by an agrarian reform. This comparative analysis of the Latin American agrarian reform demonstrates that this has happened only in countries where the incorporation of rural women to the reform is an explicit objective of state policy.     

异地有偿补充耕地——土地发展权交易的浙江模式及政策启示

浙江省为了克服现行耕地保护制度所存在的问题,进行了"异地补充耕地"的土地发展权交易改革。文章从制度起源、市场价格变动、市场特点和交易过程等方面分析了"异地补充耕地"市场的兴起、发展与绩效,提出这一制度创新有助于改进现行耕地保护制度的经济效率和新增耕地的整体质量,并建议在总结"异地补充耕地"制度的经验与教训基础上在全国范围内推广,并实行土地发展权的跨省转移与交易。     

Evaluating social protection programs in Tajikistan

At independence, Tajikistan inherited an extensive social protection system that included a range of cash and non-cash benefits. While the economy is well into its transition from a centrally planned to a market-oriented economy, its social welfare policies still adhere to the methods and approaches of the Soviet period. This is true for social protection, which has both social insurance and social assistance components, and for which benefits are effectively non-contributory in nature in that no contributions are collected from employees. In this paper, we examine the performance of the country's social protection system—essentially public transfers for the elderly and disabled—in terms of reducing poverty, with the aim of identifying its key problems. Since the government provides such public transfers mainly as pensions (i.e., old-age pension, disabled pension, and survivors pension), it merits an in-depth analysis of whether or not these transfer programs reach the intended beneficiaries; that is, how well do they target the intended beneficiaries? Using data from the Living Standards Measurement Survey conducted in 2007, we find that only 43% of poor households are receiving transfers from the government, while 33% of non-poor households receive transfers. This study argues for applying a targeted approach to public transfer programs, including non-contributory pension schemes aimed at the most vulnerable populations.     

地票交易中各利益主体博弈的经济学分析

重庆农村土地交易所开展的地票交易开创了城乡土地流转的新路径。其中,农村宅基地使用权地票交易,实现了复垦农民、政府和开发商三方利益主体的怕累托改进,但忽略了被征地农民的利益。文章试图从经济学角度分析地票交易中各利益主体之间的博弈及利益分配。以发现地票交易制度设计中的缺陷,并提出合理的改进制度设计的建议。     

强化地权能够促进农地流转吗?

2004年以来,中国的农地流转率一直在快速提升。但以2009年为转折点,随后进入减速阶段,这显然与新一轮农地确权的政策预期并不一致。学界不仅对此缺乏解释,对于农地确权与农地流转的关系也尚未达成基本共识。文章将农民地权强化分为"还权松管"、"赋权强能"两种形式,借鉴税收与经济增长的理论模型,并将农地确权的收入效应区分由"还权松管"引致的农地流转收益、由"赋权强能"引致的农地生产性收益和在位控制权收益,由此阐明地权强化的不同方式对农地流转的差异化影响。利用2006-2016年中国省级面板数据,并使用同时处理组内自相关与组间同期相关的FGLS模型的估计结果表明,以"还权松管"和"赋权强能"表达的产权强化分别促进和抑制了农地流转。随着农地流转的管制放松以及产权强化程度的不断提高,进一步的"赋权强能",尤其是农地确权的实施,不仅无益于促进农地流转,反而抑制了农地流转。文章认为,农地的"人格化财产"属性决定了农地确权并不能因为单纯的经济收益而激励流转,禀赋效应的强化也是确权的必然结果。因此,以促进农地流转为主线的农地制度安排,应该做出重要调整。     

Indonesia's banking crisis: a new perspective on $50 billion of losses

The Asian crisis devastated the Indonesian banking sector and led to astronomical losses, almost entirely paid for by the government, i.e. by the general public. The paper provides a new perspective on the crisis, stressing that bank losses are not the same as losses to the economy: most of the ‘losses’ of the banks are actually transfers to borrowers and depositors. It should be possible to recover part of the amounts concerned through taxation of the major beneficiaries. The paper contrasts the conventional approach, embedded in business accounting, used to manage the banking crisis, with an alternative approach that relies on national accounting concepts. It shows how the latter can provide a new perspective, elucidating the massive transfers of wealth that took place during the crisis. This suggests possible improvements in bank resolution strategies, through the identification and quantification of the main transfers of wealth, followed by their taxation.     

农地流转：历史、困境与制度创新

文章采用激励理论、合约理论的分析方法,探讨了中国农村土地流转发展缓慢的原因：农户土地转让激励不足、关系型合约限制了农地转让的发展。只有通过完善农户转让的激励机制,实现由关系型合约向规则型合约的转变,才能真正使农地流转起来。     

The Effect of Land Restitution on Poverty Reduction among the Khomani San “Bushmen” in South Africa

This paper looks at the impact of land restitution involving the Khomani San “bushmen” in the Kgalagadi area of South Africa. It seeks to investigate the effect of land restitution on poverty reduction among the beneficiaries. We run two‐stage least squares models of access to nature, per capita income and poverty status on the use of restituted land, among other variables. Our results suggest that the Khomani San beneficiaries have gotten more access to natural resources but that the use of restituted land has neither increased per capita income nor reduced poverty. In fact, the use of restituted land has contributed to increased poverty. Therefore, land restitution should become part of a broader, carefully crafted rural developmental strategy for it to be effective in reducing poverty. Otherwise, land restitution risks enabling indigenous communities to continue with their “traditional” way of life, and in fact thereby keep them poor.     

Old‐Age Government Transfers and the Crowding Out of Private Gifts: The 70 and Above Program for the Rural Elderly in Mexico

We estimate the crowding out of private transfers caused by 70 y Más –a public assistance program for the rural elderly in Mexico for whom family support is an important source of income. Using data from the Mexican Income and Expenditure Survey and a triple difference approach, we find that the program crowds out private gifts by 37%, and it does so mostly by reducing the probability of receiving domestic remittances. As a result, the nonlabor income of beneficiaries increases by less than their government transfers. Thus, by reducing their private support to the elderly, domestic donors are dampening the effect of the program, although not completely neutralizing it.     

合法转让权是农民财产性收入的基础——成都市农村集体土地流转的调查研究

建立在完整财产权基础上的土地流转是提高农民收入、统筹城乡发展的关键之一,而合法转让权则是财产权的核心。通过对近年来成都市农村土地在确权后进行合法流转的大量案例进行调查研究发现,建立在合法转让权基础上的土地流转,可以为农民带来可观的收入,而农民收益的高低与其获得的财产权利强弱紧密相关。政府应该在界定和保护产权的同时,打破城乡要素流动壁垒,逐渐从直接参与土地交易中抽身而出,完成向"公共服务提供者"角色的转变。在农地确权的基础上进行的集体土地流转,可以提高农民财产性收入,为统筹城乡发展奠定基础。     

Trade openness and household welfare within a country: A microeconomic analysis of Vietnamese households

The positive effects of trade liberalisation on several dimensions of poverty have initiated studies of the trade–poverty relationship. Trade liberalisation accompanies institutional reforms that help to reduce institutional barriers against the poor. This study examines the impacts of trade openness and institutional reforms on rural household welfare at the provincial level through the analysis of the determinants of welfare of rural households in Vietnam. The study employs a model of micro-determinants of growth and tests it on the data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSSs) of 2006 and 2010. What makes the study different from some other studies of the same vein is that it attempts to directly capture the institutional effect on welfare. The study finds that, in the provinces with high institutional reforms and trade openness, the welfare of rural households improved. Institutional reforms in Vietnam appeared to be sluggish in the late 2000s. In particular, both access to land and lower informal charges were the important determinants of welfare improvement over time. These findings suggest that Vietnam should maintain its development by accelerating the process of institutional reforms, thereby helping poor households to improve standards of living.     

The Inter-War Land Reforms in Estonia,Finland and Bulgaria: A Comparative Study

Abstract

^*This study compares the development and performance of the interwar land reforms in Estonia, Finland and Bulgaria: three countries within the so-called Agrarian Reform Zone, which constituted previous parts of the Russian and Ottoman Empires heavily influenced by the Russian revolutions. In spite of their different scope and outlook these land reforms aimed at solving similar problems of an agrarian and socio-economic developmental character. Finland and Estonia underwent wars of liberation when seceding from revolutionary Russia: Finland also had to go through civil war before the land redistributions took place. In Bulgaria, however, land redistribution had been an ongoing theme since the late 1870s when autonomy from the Ottoman Empire was achieved. The interwar land expropriation and redistribution was most profound and radical in Estonia. The gradual Finnish reforms were also radical from the perspective of the precarious political situation they aimed at solving. Bulgaria's less thorough reform was nevertheless radical from the perspective of its agrarian ideological aspirations. These land reforms must therefore be seen as a part of the interwar state-building process and struggle for independence: peasant movements were influential in all three cases and geographical proximity to revolutionary Russia had impacts on their outcomes. The study emphasises that by exploring and comparing the profound interwar land redistributions, we can gain a better understanding of current problems, such as those resulting from the post-socialist de-collectivisation: e.g. the return to small-scale family farming by means of restitution, in countries that were subjugated to a command economy after World War II. For this reason interwar Finland's different road and sustained national independence makes an interesting comparison, since Finland shared several features with the land reform zone countries before the Russian revolution of 1917 and not least during the 1920s and 1930s. In the case of Estonia and Bulgaria, however, the development path was interrupted by Soviet expansion.     

Economic incentives in the subsistence areas of South Africa and the need for reform

While land tenure reform within the subsistence areas of South Africa will not address fundamental black grievances about land inequality, it is essential that the land in these areas, as well as other agricultural land used for resettlement, be used in a productive and sustainable manner. This article examines the way in which discriminatory policies with respect to land distribution and public support, together with the high level of transaction costs under existing black tenure systems, have structured economic incentives within the subsistence areas, leading to the apparent under‐ and over‐utilization of arable and grazing land respectively. The potential for formal private tenure to reduce these constraints is then explored, while noting the necessity for property institutions to be both impartially administered and well adapted to the particular needs and resource constraints at the community level. Finally, a number of reforms which would increase the level of information provided by informal tenure are examined.     

Capitalization of local government grants on land values: Evidence from Tokyo metropolitan area,Japan

This study investigates the capitalization effect of intergovernmental fiscal transfers from central to local governments on land prices. Using a drop in the size number of fiscal transfers following fiscal reform in the early 2000 s, this study examines the extent to which unconditional fiscal transfers to municipalities in the Tokyo metropolitan area are attributed to land prices. The result shows that the decline in the transfer has decreased the land prices in the municipalities. Furthermore, reducing one unit in the per capita grant reduced the value of housing area per capita by one or more units, even if the real discount rate was assumed to be as low as 2%. Therefore, the fiscal transfer reform more negatively affects the benefits of residing in a municipality in the area than the reduction amount in the transfer.     

Trajectories of social protection in Africa

Social protection in contemporary Africa is the product of several strands of social policy, from European social security systems to humanitarian relief interventions. Contributory social security mechanisms such as unemployment insurance and pensions were imported to Africa during the colonial period, but cover only a minority of formally employed workers. Food aid alleviates hunger but does not resolve problems of chronic food insecurity. Cash transfers are being promoted as an alternative to food aid, but have been criticised for being ineffective against price inflation and underwriting neoliberal economic policies. Some programmes link social transfers to public works employment and microfinance, with the aim of ‘graduating’ participants off social protection. This article argues instead for a ‘social contract’ approach – recognising the right to social protection, empowering passive beneficiaries to become entitled claimants, and introducing social audits to hold duty-bearers accountable for effective and equitable delivery of citizen-driven social protection policies.     

Rural household migration in China – the roles of actual and perceived tenure security

Migration can make an important contribution to rural poverty reduction and overall productivity growth, but it may be limited by prevailing rural land tenure arrangements. Since 1998, the Chinese government has implemented a number of land tenure reforms with the aim of improving the tenure security and the transferability of land. Although these reforms enhanced legal tenure security, it is not clear to what extent they remove existing land tenure bottlenecks in migration. Both actual tenure security, i.e. local implementation of laws that warrant tenure security, and household perceptions of tenure security are likely to play a role. In this paper we examine the impacts of actual and perceived tenure security on rural household migration in China, taking into account the degree of development of land rental markets. We argue that actual and perceived tenure security can have both positive and negative effects on migration decisions and that the presence of land rental markets may modify these effects. A two-step control function approach that controls for endogeneity of tenure security perceptions is applied to household and village-level data collected in Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning provinces and Chongqing municipality. We find that both actual and perceived tenure security affect migration, but the impact of perceived tenure security measured by land reallocation expectations is much stronger and is positive, whereas the independent impact of actual tenure security is negative. Households perceiving a lower risk of losing land when one or more members migrate are more inclined to migrate, independent of the availability of land rental markets in their villages. Actual tenure security, as measured by absence of land reallocations and possession of land certificates, has an independent negative effect on migration only in villages with underdeveloped land rental markets.     

宅基地使用权与房屋继承权的冲突探析

我国的农村土地制度限制了宅基地使用权流转出本集体经济组织,但是根据继承法,宅基地上所建的房屋作为法律保护的私有财产是可以继承的,由此导致了房屋所有权与宅基地使用权的冲突与矛盾。同时,严格的耕地保护制度和我国人多地少的现实又使我们不能放开宅基地使用权,使其自由进入流通领域。妥善的解决之道是应平衡房屋继承人继承房屋所有权的利益和集体组织对宅基地所有权的利益。“宅基地换房”模式是一个有益的探索,能在一定程度上解决这种冲突。