Success and Failure of Reform: Insights from the Transition of Agriculture

Abstract

The paper analyzes the linkages between the reform strategies in transition countries and economic performance. We focus on agriculture because of the sharpness of the policy changes, fundamental differences among countries, and relative simplicity of agricultural relationships. We document post reform performance in the transition countries of Asia and Europe. We show how: a.) pricing reform and subsidy reductions; b.) land rights reform and policies that affect farm restructuring; and c.) the presence institutions that facilitate exchange (either markets or market substitutes) affect output and productivity. The paper ends with general lessons on reforms and transition.

Environmental and Gender Impacts of Land Tenure Regularization in Africa: Pilot Evidence from Rwanda

“…In Africa, following a seminal study in Ghana (Besley 1995), weak rights, often held by disadvantaged groups such as women or outsiders, can undermine investment and reduce productivity (Deininger and Jin 2006;Fenske 2011;Goldstein and Udry 2008). Beyond Africa, positive impacts of tenure security on investment in rural areas have been documented in China (Jacoby et al 2002), Thailand (Feder et al 1988), Latin America (Bandiera 2007), and Eastern Europe (Rozelle and Swinnen 2004). What is at stake in the empirical debate is not whether improvements in tenure security increase land-related investment but whether (i) land registration programmes help to increase rather than reduce tenure security; (ii) they do without negative distributional effects such as 'land grabbing' or distress sales; and (iii) benefits significantly exceed the cost to ensure interventions are cost-effective.…”

Securing property rights in transition: Lessons from implementation of China's rural land contracting law

“…Most of the immense legal and economic literature on takings under eminent domain is at the conceptual level, implying that we add important empirical evidence. Many countries are undergoing a shift from group-based to individual land rights in a variety of forms (Benjaminsen and Lund 2002, Woodhouse 2003, Rozelle and Swinnen 2004. Studies show that, although it responds to broad considerations of resource availability in a spontaneous manner, this transition is affected by political considerations (Bassett and Crummey 1993, Berry 1993, Sjaastad and Bromley 1997 and will have farreaching implications on poverty as well as productivity (Andre andPlatteau 1998, Goldstein andUdry 2006).…”

Impacts Of Land Certification On Tenure Security, Investment, And Land Markets: Evidence From Ethiopia

“…The positive impacts of more secure land tenure on investment and land values in rural areas have been demonstrated in China (Jacoby et al 2002), Thailand (Feder et al 1998), Latin America (Deininger and Chamorro 2004;Bandiera 2007;Fort 2007), Eastern Europe (Rozelle and Swinnen 2004), and Africa (Deininger and Jin 2006;Goldstein and Udry 2006). In urban areas, efforts to enhance tenure security have led to increased levels of selfassessed land values (Lanjouw and Levy 2002), greater investment in housing (Galiani and Schargrodsky 2005), and more female empowerment (Field 2005).…”