The Political Economy of Land Privatization in Argentina and Australia, 1810-1850: A Puzzle

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Columbia University; University of Hawaii System
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050713000831
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 901-936
• 关键词: PROPERTY-RIGHTS; institutions; endowments

摘要

In early public land privatization, governments in New South Wales and Buenos Aires provided for de jure transfer of public lands. In New South Wales the government lost control; squatters rushed out unlawfully and seized de facto frontier claims. But in Buenos Aires privatization was accomplished by de jure transfers. Why did British settlers reject de jure transfers from a government, most able to secure property rights and rule of law, while settlers of the pampa frontier, where property-rights security was doubtful, complied with de jure transfers? We find that the revenue objective and violence on the frontier explain this puzzle.