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Global Land Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Bauluz

    (Universität Bonn = University of Bonn, WIL - World Inequality Lab)

  • Yajna Govind

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, Universität Bonn = University of Bonn)

  • Filip Novokmet

    (WIL - World Inequality Lab, Universität Bonn = University of Bonn)

Abstract

Agricultural land is vital for three out of four of the poorest billion individuals in the world yet little is known about the distribution of agricultural land. Existing crosscountry estimates of land inequality, based on agriculture census data, measure the size distribution of agricultural holdings. These neither reflect land ownership inequality nor value inequality and often do not account for the landless population. In this paper, we tackle these issues and provide novel and consistent estimates of land inequality across countries, based on household surveys. We show that i) land-value inequality can di er signi cantly from land-area inequality, ii) di erences in the proportion of landless across countries vary substantially, a ecting markedly inequality estimates and, iii) regional patterns in inequality according to our benchmark metric (landvalue inequality including the landless) contradict existing estimates from agricultural censuses. Overall, South Asia and Latin America exhibit the highest inequality with top 10% landowners capturing up to 75% of agricultural land, followed by Africa and `Communist' Asia (China and Vietnam) at levels around 55-60%. .

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Bauluz & Yajna Govind & Filip Novokmet, 2020. "Global Land Inequality," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-03022360, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wilwps:halshs-03022360
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03022360
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    2. Pronti, A. & Zegarra, E. & Vicario, D. Rey & Graves, A., 2024. "Global exports draining local water resources: Land concentration, food exports and water grabbing in the Ica Valley (Peru)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Baulch, Bob & Huynh, Minh Song Ngoc & Tran, Trinh Duc, 2024. "The changing distribution of land in rural Vietnam, 2004–2014," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    4. Bequet, Ludovic, 2021. "Agricultural productivity and land inequality. Evidence from the Philippines," MPRA Paper 108131, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Facundo Alvaredo & Anthony B Atkinson & Thomas Blanchet & Lucas Chancel & Luis Estevez Bauluz & Matthew Fisher-Post & Ignacio Flores & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Clara Martínez-Tol, 2021. "Distributional National Accounts Guidelines Methods and Concepts Used in the World Inequality Database," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-03307584, HAL.
    6. Ludovic Bequet, 2022. "Agricultural productivity and land inequality. Evidence from the Philippines," DeFiPP Working Papers 2203, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    7. K. Kareemulla & Pandian Krishnan & S. Ravichandran & B. Ganesh Kumar & Sweety Sharma & Ramachandra Bhatta, 2021. "Spatiotemporal Analysis of Size and Equity in Ownership Dynamics of Agricultural Landholdings in India Vis-à-Vis the World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-25, September.
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    9. Giles Atkinson & Paola Ovando, 2022. "Distributional Issues in Natural Capital Accounting: An Application to Land Ownership and Ecosystem Services in Scotland," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(2), pages 215-241, February.

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