초록 열기/닫기 버튼
If land right is given to everyone on the equal basis in one country, its long-term economic growth rate would tend to increase. There are three ways to equalize everyone's land right: 1) allotting land itself equally to people; 2) introducing the public land lease system; and 3) implementing land value taxation advocated by Henry George. In 1950, Korean government was successful in making farmers enjoy, although temporarily, almost equal right to land by carrying out the Farmland Reform. The reform confiscated farmlands from landlords and alloted them to peasants with lower social cost for a relatively short period of time. This paper argues that the reform laid a foundation for Korea's rapid economic growth because it brought increase in rice production and cheap and good work forces. In addition, the class of landlords disappeared as a result of the reform, who would otherwise have prevented the government from establishing laws and institutions that promote economic growth. This remarkable reform was accomplished thanks to a few domestic and external factors. Above all, Cho, Bong-Ahm, the first Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, and his staffs played significant roles. They drafted the bill for the Farmland Reform, the so-called third way, which was distinctively different from the North Korea's Reform as well as the reform supported by the South Korean landlords. The bill greatly influenced the actual process of enacting the Farmland Reform Act.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Equal land rights, Farmland reform, Cho, Bong-Ahm, System of private property in land, Market-friendly public concept of land
