Cooperative property rights and development: Evidence from land reform in El Salvador

In cooperative property rights systems, workers jointly own and manage production, whereas in outside-ownership systems, an owner contracts workers. Despite a rich theoretical literature on how the organization of property rights matters for equity, efficiency, and specialization, little causal evidence of their impacts exists. During a land reform in El Salvador in 1980, properties owned by individuals with cumulative landholdings over 500 hectares were reorganized into cooperatives managed by the former hacienda workers.

• Eduardo Montero
• Cooperative Property Rights
• Economic Equity
• El Salvador
• Blue Bag Lunch Talk