Page 10 - Griffenomics

GRIFFENOMICS ISSUE 1
10
LANDREFORM
FACT: TAIWAN WAS ONE OF THE WORLD’S FIRST COUNTRIES TO CONJURE COUNTRY-WIDE LAND REFORM PROGRAMS
Have you ever wondered what
came before this technological
era? Many people are fascinated
at the development in the world econo-
my over the last few decades, as well as
the technological developments over the
last 10 years. What was the journey for
many of these countries? Why are some
countries as economically powerful as
Japan, but others still in economic tur-
moil, such as the Philippines (even prior
to Typhoon Haiyan)?
One of the areas that has captivated
many economists is the development of
the various economies in Asia, and it is
apparent that amongst the Asian coun-
tries some have fared far better than
others. In his book How Asia Works,
Joe Studwell provides some interest-
ing insights as well as the journey of
development for some of the key Asian
economies, such as Japan, Taiwan and
China. Through travelling around Asia,
Joe Studwell has gathered su¢cient in-
formation frommany diƒerent countries
in order to make a very eƒective and per-
ceptive comparison on this subject. The
level of economic development in a coun-
try depends on many factors such as gov-
ernment policies, cultural inclinations,
resource availability and climatic influ-
ences. However, I believe that it would
be naive to overlook the importance of
agricultural advancement that came at
the onset of this journey, and how it sub-
sequently aƒected the level of economic
and technological development of the
country.
As famous economist Michael Lipton
once said “If you wish for industriali-
sation, prepare to develop agriculture.”
Looking at Meiji Japan (1868-1912), a
group of people called the Daimyo came
into power during this period. These
people were quasi-feudal lords, and they
had accrued a large amount of land. The
Daimyo were landlords who rented their
land to smallholders and also controlled
the grain-trading system. The Meiji gov-
ernment realised that the only way to
move the country forwards would be
through rigorous land reform. There-
fore, the administration pensioned oƒ
the Daimyo and gave them seats in the
House of Peers in Tokyo.
After that, the government proceed-
ed to issue certificates of ownership to
the peasants in Japan, and people for the
first time could mortgage and sell land.
The farmers were also encouraged to in-
vest in their land. This led to an extreme-
ly high growth in yields, in particular the
doubling of rice production. Following
this success, Japan then rapidly grew
and expanded into the industrial sector,
riding on this success which lead to an
economic take oƒ. Of course, many oth-
er factors came into play as well, but the
initial success of the agricultural reform
was pivotal as a platform for subsequent
economic growth. The pace of develop-
ment was so high that the modernisation
of Japan led to it being able to defeat Chi-
na over the control of Korea in the First
Sino-Japanese War in 1895 and Russia in
1905.
Throughout the whole development
of Asia, there has been one extremely im-
portant person who significantly altered
the pace and the way agriculture was re-
formed. Wolf Ladejinsky was an Ameri-
can agricultural economist and research-
er, and he was dispatched by the USA in
1945 to General MacArthur’s SCAP (Su-
preme Commander for the Allied Pow-
ers) staƒ. He gave advice on how the Jap-
anese land reform should be laid out and
in Taiwan, Ladejinsky’s influence contin-
ued to be felt as he recommended that
the Kuomintang set up tenancy commit-
tees. This was an extremely eƒective pol-
icy as farmers, tenants and landlords all
REFORM TO RICHES
How important is agriculture and land reform in a country’s development?
FIELDS OF GREEN Rice paddies near lake Inawashiro in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan“If you wish for industrialisation,
prepare to develop agriculture.
MICHAEL LIPTON
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons