Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala

Farm size and land allocation are important factors in explaining lagging agricultural productivity in developing countries. This paper examines the effect of land market imperfections on land allocation across farmers and aggregate agricultural productivity. We develop a theoretical framework to mo...

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Autores principales: Britos, Braulio, Hernandez, Manuel A., Robles, Miguel, Trupkin, Danilo R.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141276
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author Britos, Braulio
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Robles, Miguel
Trupkin, Danilo R.
author_browse Britos, Braulio
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Robles, Miguel
Trupkin, Danilo R.
author_facet Britos, Braulio
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Robles, Miguel
Trupkin, Danilo R.
author_sort Britos, Braulio
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Farm size and land allocation are important factors in explaining lagging agricultural productivity in developing countries. This paper examines the effect of land market imperfections on land allocation across farmers and aggregate agricultural productivity. We develop a theoretical framework to model the optimal size distribution of farms and assess to what extent market imperfections can explain non-optimal land allocation and output inefficiency. We measure these distortions for the case of Guatemala using agricultural census microdata. We find that due to land market imperfections aggregate output is 19% below its efficient level for both maize and beans and 31% below for coffee, which are three major crops produced nationwide. We also observe that areas with higher distortions show higher land price dispersion and less active rental markets. The degree of land market distortions across areas co-variate to some extent with road accessibility, ethnicity, and education.
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spelling CGSpace1412762025-10-26T13:01:45Z Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala Britos, Braulio Hernandez, Manuel A. Robles, Miguel Trupkin, Danilo R. efficiency yield gap land markets productivity market distortions Farm size and land allocation are important factors in explaining lagging agricultural productivity in developing countries. This paper examines the effect of land market imperfections on land allocation across farmers and aggregate agricultural productivity. We develop a theoretical framework to model the optimal size distribution of farms and assess to what extent market imperfections can explain non-optimal land allocation and output inefficiency. We measure these distortions for the case of Guatemala using agricultural census microdata. We find that due to land market imperfections aggregate output is 19% below its efficient level for both maize and beans and 31% below for coffee, which are three major crops produced nationwide. We also observe that areas with higher distortions show higher land price dispersion and less active rental markets. The degree of land market distortions across areas co-variate to some extent with road accessibility, ethnicity, and education. 2022-03 2024-04-12T13:37:36Z 2024-04-12T13:37:36Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141276 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134138 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148104 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150336 Open Access Elsevier Britos, Braulio; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Robles, Miguel; and Trupkin, Danilo R. 2022. Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala. Journal of Development Economics 155(March 2022): 102787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102787
spellingShingle efficiency
yield gap
land markets
productivity
market distortions
Britos, Braulio
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Robles, Miguel
Trupkin, Danilo R.
Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala
title Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala
title_full Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala
title_fullStr Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala
title_full_unstemmed Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala
title_short Land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity: Evidence from Guatemala
title_sort land market distortions and aggregate agricultural productivity evidence from guatemala
topic efficiency
yield gap
land markets
productivity
market distortions
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141276
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AT trupkindanilor landmarketdistortionsandaggregateagriculturalproductivityevidencefromguatemala