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The Political Economy of Urban Land Reform in Hawaii

Author

Listed:
  • Sumner J. La Croix

    (Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa)

  • James Mak

    (Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa)

  • Louis A. Rose

Abstract

In the mid-1960s 26 percent of the single-family homes in Honolulu were on leased land. Dissatisfaction with leasehold led to reform legislation in 1967, allowing lessees to buy leased land. By 1991 only 3.6 percent of the homes were on leased land. We examine why landowners elected to lease rather than sell land and attribute the rise of leasehold to legal constraints on land sales by large estates and the federal tax code. Ideological forces initiated land reform in 1967, but rent-seeking forces captured the process in the mid-1970s. We conclude that Hawaii's experiment with leasehold was a failure due to the difficulties associated with specifying and enforcing long-term contracts in residential land.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumner J. La Croix & James Mak & Louis A. Rose, 1993. "The Political Economy of Urban Land Reform in Hawaii," Working Papers 199313-R, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hai:wpaper:199313
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    File URL: http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/workingpapers/88-98/WP_93-13R.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Dongwoo Yoo & Richard H. Steckel, 2010. "Property Rights and Financial Development: The Legacy of Japanese Colonial Institutions," NBER Working Papers 16551, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Shinichiro Iwata & Hisaki Yamaga, 2009. "Land Tenure Security and Home Maintenance: Evidence from Japan," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 85(3), pages 429-441.
    3. Dongwoo Yoo & Edwyna Harris, 2016. "Conditions of Successful Land Reform: A Study of Micronesia," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(3), pages 292-316, November.

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