American Economic Review Vol. 100 No. 4 2010

Determinants of Redistributive Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Land Reforms in West Bengal, India

Pranab Bardhan¹; Dilip Mookherjee²

¹ Department of Economics, Evans Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3880. · ² Department of Economics, Boston University, 270 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215.

Abstract

We investigate political determinants of land reform implementation in the Indian state of West Bengal. Using a village panel spanning 1974–1998, we do not find evidence supporting the hypothesis that land reforms were positively and monotonically related to control of local governments by a Left Front coalition vis-à-vis the right-centrist Congress party, combined with lack of commitment to policy platforms. Instead, the evidence is consistent with a quasi-Downsian theory stressing the role of opportunism (reelection concerns) and electoral competition.

DOI

10.1257/aer.100.4.1572

Volume

100

Issue

4

Pages

1572-1600

Language

en

Sources

openalex bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref

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