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Land Reform in the Middle East

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Hossein Askari ,
John Thomas Cummings  and
Bassam Harik
Hossein Askari
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin Wayne State University
John Thomas Cummings
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin Wayne State University
Bassam Harik
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin Wayne State University
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Extract

The success or failure of land reform programs in the past has been, in general, evaluated on the basis of whether agricultural output increases or decreases following their adoption and the implementation of their principal provisions. Yet this approach ignores other factors, such as the effect of prices on output, making it likely that the influence of land reform is under- or over-estimated. In this paper, we suggest that it is possible to isolate the effect of price on output from those of reform programs by using the Nerlove supply model. By applying this method to periods before and after the initiation of such programs, we can identify any change in the market responsiveness of the affected cultivators. In testing this approach, the output of major crops in Egypt, Syria and Iraq—countries which have seen major land reform efforts in the post-war era—was analyzed. Post-reform responsiveness was compared with that of earlier periods and with that of cultivators in two neighboring countries—Jordan and Lebanon—which underwent little reform.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , October 1977 , pp. 437 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

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