Publication

This paper contrasts traditional state-led land redistribution efforts with the market-mediated approach. In the 1990s, the market-mediated model was adopted in various countries as a response to some of the perceived failings of state-led models. The market-mediated model purports to be non-confrontational, but it must also provide strong incentives to landowners to sell their land. This tension lies at the heart of the market-mediated model. Using evidence from South Africa from 1995 -2005, the author argues that the market-mediated model can have adverse outcomes similar to those under the state-led models pursued in Latin America in the 1950s-1970s.