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

Alan Dye and Sumner La Croix
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Alan Dye: Department of Economics Barnard College

No 201311, Working Papers from University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper examines a puzzle regarding public land privatization in New South Wales and the Province of Buenos Aires in the early nineteenth century. Both claimed frontier lands as public lands to raise revenue. New South Wales lost control of the public claim as squatters rushed out and claimed vast tracts of land. Property rights thus originated as de facto squatters’ claims, which government subsequently partially accommodated as de jure property rights. Paradoxically, in Buenos Aires, where de jure property rights were less secure, original transfers of public lands were nonetheless specified de jure by government. The paper develops a model that explains these differences as a consequence of violence and the relative cost of enforcement of government claims to public land.

Pages: 69 pages
Date: 2013-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/workingpapers/WP_13-11R.pdf First version, 2013 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Political Economy of Land Privatization in Argentina and Australia, 1810–1850: A Puzzle (2013)
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