Land Market Liberalization and the Agrarian Question in Latin America

The priority which is now given to economic development policies that attempt to address inequality and poverty is furthered by the search for what Joseph Stiglitz referred to as the ‘post-Washington Consensus’. Aside from how there are ongoing developments in both macro- and microeconomic theories that concern economic costs of inequality which allocate more focus on inequality and poverty, it is important to note that the renewed attention received by these issues reflects the post-liberalization growth exhibited by Latin America which, unfortunately, has had minimal effects in...

The priority which is now given to economic development policies that attempt to address inequality and poverty is furthered by the search for what Joseph Stiglitz referred to as the ‘post-Washington Consensus’. Aside from how there are ongoing developments in both macro- and microeconomic theories that concern economic costs of inequality which allocate more focus on inequality and poverty, it is important to note that the renewed attention received by these issues reflects the post-liberalization growth exhibited by Latin America which, unfortunately, has had minimal effects in relinquishing economic inequalities, specifically in the rural sector. Today, land policy in Latin American countries consist mainly of the use of instruments such as land titling and market-assisted or negotiated land reform. This chapter aims to assess the performance of liberalized land markets through first considering the theory of smallholder land market competitiveness and through looking into experiences in three Latin American economies.