Land Tenure in Greek Agriculture

Abstract

The land tenure system may be considered as a set of arrangements under which farms are owned and operated. It also contains a set of rights which determine the manner with which land can be sold, bequeathed, rented, cultivated, etc. Usually, in the economic analysis of agriculture the land tenure system is taken as constant, since during periods of social and political stability, it changes very slowly. Under the pressure of economic, demographic, and other forces, the exact configuration of land tenure may change, in the sense of changing, for example, the proportion of land cultivated by full owners, tenants, etc. These changes occur slowly as the economic conditions provide the proper motivation. These changes have important effects on various aspects of agricultural production but they do not affect the basic institutional framework of land tenure arrangements. In other words, they do not change the existing property rights on land. Of course, in the historical process of development of many countries, there have been revolutionary periods, where the land tenure arrangements have changed radically by confiscation of large estates and redistribution of land to landless peasants. These revolutionary changes are the result of a long process of economic, social, and political development which creates the need for new systems of land tenure.