The economics of rural organization: theory, practice, and policy

This book attempts to explain the economic institutions, contractual arrangements and technological constraints found in rural land, labour and credit markets. Each of the four parts of the book covers one area where governments have historically intervened heavily: credit and land markets in rural areas, technological change in agriculture, and agricultural taxation and transfers. Each part of the book, in turn, consists of an overview chapter, one or more theoretical chapters, and case studies. The chapters suggest that formal models of the institutions in the rural sector provide a key to explaining why some rural development policies have failed. They emphasize information constraints and transaction costs, and some suggest mechanisms to alleviate obstacles to welfare-increasing policies in credit markets, land reforms and water rights systems. -M.Amos