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The Political Economy of Land Privatization in Argentina and Australia, 1810-1850

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Dye

    (Barnard College, Columbia University)

  • Sumner La Croix

    (Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa)

Abstract

This paper compares public land privatization in New South Wales and the Province of Buenos Aires,in the early nineteenth century. Both claimed frontier lands as public lands for raising revenue. New South Wales failed to enforce its claim. Property rights originated as de facto squatters’ claims, which government subsequently accommodated and enforced as de jure property rights. In Buenos Aires, by contrast, original transfers of public lands were specified de jure by government. The paper develops a model that explains these differences as a consequence of violence and the relative cost of enforcement of government claims to public land.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Dye & Sumner La Croix, 2012. "The Political Economy of Land Privatization in Argentina and Australia, 1810-1850," Working Papers 201207, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hai:wpaper:201207
    as

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    File URL: http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/workingpapers/WP_12-7.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Lee J. Alston & Edwyna Harris & Bernardo Mueller, 2009. "De Facto and De Jure Property Rights: Land Settlement and Land Conflict on the Australian, Brazilian and U.S. Frontiers," CEPR Discussion Papers 607, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. “If they couldn’t guarantee the property rights of the land they gave away, how could they possibly sell it?”: Land Privatization and Property Rights in the Nineteenth Century Neo-Europes
      by Manuel Bautista in NEP-HIS blog on 2013-03-19 11:08:28

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    2. Edwyna Harris, 2011. "Does franchise extension reduce short-run economic growth? Evidence from New South Wales, 1862-1882," Monash Economics Working Papers 19-11, Monash University, Department of Economics.

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