Land Inequality or Productivity: What Mattered in Southern Vietnam after 1975?

TitleLand Inequality or Productivity: What Mattered in Southern Vietnam after 1975?
Annotated RecordNot Annotated
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsMinh_Tam_T._Bui _, Preechametta A
Secondary TitleAsia and the Pacific Policy Studies
Volume3
Issue2
Pagination300-319
Key themesDistribution, Formalisation-titling, Policy-law
Abstract

Land redistribution and agricultural collective production were the key components of agrarian reforms implemented by the Vietnamese Communist Party in the south of the country after 1975. Land inequality was serious in the region under the Republic of Vietnam's regime. The new government struggled with agricultural collectivisation contributing to the decline in rice productivity. This study explains the persistence of a market-based agricultural production in the southern economy under the new political regime. Beside the economic reasons and arguments of local peasants' everyday politics cited in the literature, we argue that the de facto political power of the middle-class landowners was an important factor impeding the performance of agricultural cooperatives. It also implies that agricultural productivity was more vital than land inequality during the study period. We apply the model of Acemoglu and Robinson explaining how de facto political power helps elites to maintain their economic institutions in spite of a political change.

URLhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.127
Availability

Available for download

Countries

Vietnam

Document Type

Journal Article