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

Alan Dye and Sumner La Croix

The Journal of Economic History, 2013, vol. 73, issue 4, 901-936

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2013
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