IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/phs/prejrn/v51y2014i1p1-18.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP): Time to let go

Author

Listed:
  • Raul V. Fabella

    (UP School of Economics, National Academy of Science and Technology)

Abstract

This paper revisits the record of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the Philippines over its quartercentury existence. By 2014, it shall have accomplished 99 percent of its targetÑan impressive success for a government program. As a program to advance the economic welfare of farmers, however, it has accomplished the opposite of its stated goals. Productivity in coconut and sugar has fallen drastically, and poverty incidence among beneficiaries in agrarian-reform communities is even higher than among farmers in general. CARP and CARPER (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with Reforms) have created a new social class: the landed poor. The design and implementation flaws that brought about this result are explored, including carpÕs suppression of the market for land assets and its rigid five-hectare landownership ceiling, which led to the demise of the legal rural financial market and the flight of private capital. The paper argues for a shift in the policy focus henceforth from equity to efficiency, and the revival of markets for rural output and credit by, among others, lifting landownership limits for productive farmers and publicly registered corporations.

Suggested Citation

  • Raul V. Fabella, 2014. "Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP): Time to let go," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 51(1), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:phs:prejrn:v:51:y:2014:i:1:p:1-18
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://pre.econ.upd.edu.ph/index.php/pre/article/view/900/800
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:phd:pjdevt:pjd_2002_vol__xxix_no__2-c is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Marife Ballesteros & Alma dela Cruz, 2006. "Land Reform and Changes in Land Ownership Concentration : Evidence from Rice-Growing Villages in the Philippines," Development Economics Working Papers 22613, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    3. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2001. "A Theory of Political Transitions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 938-963, September.
    4. Reyes, Celia M., 2002. "Impact of Agrarian Reform on Poverty," Discussion Papers DP 2002-02, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    5. Guttman, Joel M & Schnytzer, Adi, 1989. "Strategic Work Interactions and the Kibbutz-Kolkhoz Paradox," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 686-699, September.
    6. Shenggen Fan & Connie Chan‐Kang, 2005. "Is small beautiful? Farm size, productivity, and poverty in Asian agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 135-146, January.
    7. Palmer, Donald W. & Pemberton, Carlisle A., 2007. "An Estimation of the Efficient Size of Sugarcane Enterprises for Farmers in Trinidad," Farm and Business - The Journal of the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society, Caribbean Agro-Economic Society, vol. 7(1).
    8. Michael R. Carter & Pedro Olinto, 2003. "Getting Institutions “Right” for Whom? Credit Constraints and the Impact of Property Rights on the Quantity and Composition of Investment," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(1), pages 173-186.
    9. Marife M. Ballesteros & F. Bresciani, 2008. "Land Rental Market Activity in Agrarian Reform Areas : Evidence from the Philippines," Development Economics Working Papers 22614, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    10. Deininger, Klaus & Hoogeveen, Hans & Kinsey, Bill H., 2004. "Economic Benefits and Costs of Land Redistribution in Zimbabwe in the Early 1980s," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1697-1709, October.
    11. Deininger, Klaus & Olinto, Pedro, 2000. "Asset distribution, inequality, and growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2375, The World Bank.
    12. Bhalla, Surjit S & Roy, Prannoy L, 1988. "Mis-specification in Farm Productivity Analysis: The Role of Land Quality," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(1), pages 55-73, March.
    13. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Llanto, Gilberto M. & Geron, Maria Piedad S. & Badiola, Jocelyn Alma R., 2016. "Comprehensive Study on Credit Programs to Smallholders," Discussion Papers DP 2016-48, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    2. Toby C. Monsod & Sharon A. Piza, 2014. "Time to let go of CARP? Not so fast," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 51(1), pages 19-27, June.
    3. Gary B. Teves, 2014. "Improving Credit Access for the Food and Agriculture Sector through Enhanced Implementation of Existing Policies and New Strategies," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 201415, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    4. James A. Roumasset, 2024. "The Microeconomics of Agricultural Development: Risk, Institutions, and Agricultural Policy," Working Papers 202403, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    5. Dy, Kenneth Bicol & Chau, Kwong Wing, 2023. "Compulsory land redistribution from the perspective of the theory of price control," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Conning, Jonathan H. & Robinson, James A., 2007. "Property rights and the political organization of agriculture," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 416-447, March.
    2. World Bank, 2009. "Land Reform, Rural Development, and Poverty in the Philippines : Revisiting the Agenda," World Bank Publications - Reports 18545, The World Bank Group.
    3. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66.
    4. Thapa, Sridhar, 2007. "The relationship between farm size and productivity: empirical evidence from the Nepalese mid-hills," 106th Seminar, October 25-27, 2007, Montpellier, France 7940, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Conning, Jonathan & Udry, Christopher, 2007. "Rural Financial Markets in Developing Countries," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 56, pages 2857-2908, Elsevier.
    6. Boucher, Stephen R. & Barham, Bradford L. & Carter, Michael R., 2005. "The Impact of "Market-Friendly" Reforms on Credit and Land Markets in Honduras and Nicaragua," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 107-128, January.
    7. Nicolas De Vijlder & Koen Schoors, 2019. "Land Rights, Local Financial Development And Industrial Activity: Evidence From Flanders (19th – Early 20th Century)," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 19/962, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    8. Larson,Donald F. & Muraoka,Rie & Otsuka,Keijiro, 2016. "On the central role of small farms in African rural development strategies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7710, The World Bank.
    9. von Braun, Joachim & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2015. "Small Farms: Changing Structures and Roles in Economic Development," Discussion Papers 210464, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    10. Diana Fletschner & Catherine Guirkinger & Steve Boucher, 2010. "Risk, Credit Constraints and Financial Efficiency in Peruvian Agriculture," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(6), pages 981-1002.
    11. Bhatt, Mohammad Sultan & Bhat, Showkat Ahmad, 2014. "Technical Efficiency and Farm Size Productivity ― Micro Level Evidence from Jammu & Kashmir," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 2(4), pages 1-22, October.
    12. Chen, Huang, 2017. "Agricultural Risk, Insurance, and the Land-productivity Inverse Relationship," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258212, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Li, Changsheng & Lin, Liqiong & Gan, Christopher E.C., 2016. "China credit constraints and rural households’ consumption expenditure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 158-164.
    14. Hu, Lifang & Lopez, Rigoberto A. & Zeng, Yinchu, 2020. "Determinants of credit constraints for agricultural wholesalers in China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 23(4), June.
    15. Catherine Guirkinger & Stephen R. Boucher, 2008. "Credit constraints and productivity in Peruvian agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(3), pages 295-308, November.
    16. Jonathan H. Conning & James A. Robinson, 2001. "Land Reform and the Political Organization of Agriculture," Department of Economics Working Papers 2001-10, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    17. Nicolas Devijlder & Koen Schoors, 2020. "Land rights, local financial development and industrial activity: evidence from Flanders (nineteenth–early twentieth century)," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 14(3), pages 507-550, September.
    18. Jiang, Meishan & Paudel, Krishna P. & Mi, Yunsheng & Li, Jingrong, 2023. "Farmland transfer and rural financial structure: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Deininger, Klaus & Goyal, Aparajita, 2012. "Going digital: Credit effects of land registry computerization in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 236-243.
    20. Markus Brückner & Kerstin Gerling & Hans Grüner, 2010. "Wealth inequality and credit markets: evidence from three industrialized countries," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 155-176, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    land reform; equity; land markets; credit markets; Coase theorem;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q14 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Finance
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:phs:prejrn:v:51:y:2014:i:1:p:1-18. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: RT Campos (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/seupdph.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.