Abstract
The paper examines the economic effects of state policy on land transactions in Egyptian agriculture since 1810, with special reference to the post-1952 government intervention in the land market. Following a combination of historical and econometric approaches, the analysis shows that: (i) under conditions of market forces, factor prices responded to changes in land-labour ratio, cotton price and output value, and landlords' monopoly power was dominant; (ii) while the inequality was sharply reduced after equity-directed intervention, value productivity of the scarce factor, land, has lost its significance in determining rental values and the effective supply of land has, since 1970, declined together with agricultural growth rates; and (iii) there has been a trade-off between equity and agricultural growth during periods of non-intervention and relaxation of tight State control of the land market. Proposals for policy adjustment are presented.
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