Campesinos, Latifundistas and Padrones: The Role of Subnational Actors in Venezuelan Land Reform

Abstract

While much of the empirical literature on land reform focuses on national political economy, the qualitative literature increasingly stresses the important role of subnational actors in the land reform process. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on the role of subnational factors as determinants of the extent of land reform among over 300 Venezuelan municipalities over the period 2007-2009. We find that including state political opposition, landowner power, and social capital have large, statistically significant impacts on the extent of land reform. We discuss these findings in light of calls to de-emphasize the central government in land reform policy.