Fragmentation of peasant land in Malaysia: transmission mechanisms and role of institutions
The paper discusses aspects of traditional informal credit system and inter-generational land transfers and how they affect landholding structure in the Malaysian rural areas. The formal and informal institutions that supported them inevitably produce various layers of transaction costs and marke...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ministry of Rural Development, National Institute of Rural Development, India
2018
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| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/63467/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/63467/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/63467/12/63467%20Fragmentation%20of%20peasant%20land%20in%20Malaysia.pdf |
| Summary: | The paper discusses aspects of traditional informal credit system and inter-generational land
transfers and how they affect landholding structure in the Malaysian rural areas. The formal and
informal institutions that supported them inevitably produce various layers of transaction costs
and market imperfections in the peasant land market; such that land fragmentation is often the
most rational and convenient outcome for the peasant household. The implication of this microlevel
decisions is today apparent in the pattern of land-use and land values that Malaysia sees
today. In its entirety, the paper should be useful in allowing one to map the right questions to
explain today’s agricultural land market while answering yet others such as why current policy
measures, in particular those relating to agriculture, fail to effectively address the issue of land
fragmentation and decline in agricultural production and hectarage. In addition, we argue that
challenges to preservation of economic land sizes vary depending on the land ownership structure
i.e. private holdings, group agrarian schemes, land settlement schemes |
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