Informational Capacity and Land Reform

• In Event: Historical Approaches to Comparative Politics

Abstract

A growing body of literature on informational capacity argues that the state must have information about the social and economic interactions it seeks to regulate. Most of the literature looks at census quality to understand the ability to tax income. This article makes a significant empirical contribution by looking at the quality and scope of cartographic maps and the success of land reform. Looking at 350 instances of land reform across countries from 1900 to 2015, I find that an increase in the quality and scope of cartographic maps increases the likelihood that land reform is successfully implemented. I specifically focus on instances of land reform intended for expropriation and redistribution.

Author

• Leon B. Kockaya, Texas A&M University