This paper is motivated by the emphasis on secure property rights as a determinant of economic development in recent literature. The authors use village and household level information from about 800 villages throughout China to explore whether legal reform increased protection of land rights...

This paper provides evidence from one of the poorest countries of the world that the property rights matter for efficiency, investment, and growth. With all land state-owned, the threat of land redistribution never appears far off the agenda. Land rental and leasing have been made legal, but...

The multiple meanings of land and agrarian change -- Theorizing land reform and agrarian change -- Theoretical insights for land reform -- The making of land policy before 1948 -- Post-1948 land questions and territorial dominance -- Space, race, and the fall and rise of hegemonic blocs -- The...