How much did land reform help Taiwan?

 [[{“value”:”We study Taiwan’s landmark 1950s land reform, long seen as central to its growth miracle. Phase II of reform—which redistributed formerly Japanese public lands—reduced tenancy, boosted rice yields, and increased the share of labor in agriculture. By contrast, phase III— which reduced tenancy by breaking up larger estates—did not increase agricultural productivity and pushed labor
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We study Taiwan’s landmark 1950s land reform, long seen as central to its growth miracle. Phase II of reform—which redistributed formerly Japanese public lands—reduced tenancy, boosted rice yields, and increased the share of labor in agriculture. By contrast, phase III— which reduced tenancy by breaking up larger estates—did not increase agricultural productivity and pushed labor (in particular, female labor) out of agriculture into manufacturing. Phase II likely increased yields by lifting crop choice constraints, while phase III may have created farms too small to be economically viable. However, phase II can still explain at most one-sixth of observed 1950s rice yield growth. These results challenge the longstanding view that land reform was a major factor behind Taiwan’s economic takeoff, and highlight the varying effects of different forms of land redistribution.

Here is the full paper by Oliver Kim and Jen-Kuan Wang.  Here is Oliver’s very useful Twitter thread.

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 Economics, History, Law, Uncategorized