Land-Ownership Systems and Agrarian Income Distribution in Denmark, New Zealand and Uruguay During the First Globalization Era and Beyond

Denmark, New Zealand and Uruguay enjoyed a virtuous integration into the world economy during the First Globalization era (1870–1913), as small, peripheral and export-oriented countries with abundant natural resources for producing and exporting goods derived from livestock rearing. Despite these similarities, the three countries experienced different trajectories in terms of income per capita. This chapter examines, from a comparative perspective, to what extent the processes of configuration of the property structure and land tenure explained the differences in income distribution in the agrarian sector and hence the economic performance of the three countries during the period 1870 to 1930. The main results show that Denmark had a relatively egalitarian ownership structure, which translated into widespread income growth on account of growing export receipts to a greater portion of society. In New Zealand, the distribution and tenure structure of land allowed a reduction in the extent of large estates, the expansion of medium-sized farms, and the distribution of agrarian income among small and medium-sized producers. Finally, in Uruguay, the domestic institutions associated with the land ownership structure consolidated large estates as the main productive unit and the agrarian income was concentrated mainly among the landowners.