Landholding Inequality, Development, and Political Conflict in Latin America

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

What is the relationship between landholding inequality and development? Does unequal access to land drive societal conflict? These questions are particularly relevant for Latin America, where landholding inequality has been traditionally associated with low investments in state capacity and public goods (Sokoloff and Engerman 2000) and high political unrest (Brockett 1992; Russett 1964). Our panel puts together a theoretically and methodologically rich analysis that addresses the effect of landholding inequality on multiple development outcomes (e.g., fiscal capacity, protection of property rights) and forms of societal conflict (e.g., land dispossessions and land-related violence). Specifically, we emphasize the role of agency by examining the strategic incentives of local landed elites to shape each of these outcomes. We present novel empirical evidence at the subnational level from Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

Sub Track

• Politics and Inequality

Session Organizers

• Deborah J Yashar, Princeton University

• Jorge G Mangonnet, Columbia University

Chair

• Maria Victoria Murillo, Columbia University

Discussant

• Candelaria Garay, Harvard University

Individual Presentations

• Commodity Prices, Political Incentives, and Land Dispossessions: Evidence from Paraguay - German Feierherd

• Landholding Inequality and the Threat of Redistribution: The Politics of Land (De)Registration in Brazil - Jorge G Mangonnet, Columbia University

• For Profit, Power and Protection: Landed Elites’ Incentives to Expand Fiscal Capacity - Giuliana Pardelli, Princeton University

• The Legacies of Land Inequality on Development: Evidence from Argentina - Federico H Tiberti, Princeton University