How Different Degrees of Land Reform Affect Economic Development: Comparative Analysis Based on China and India after 1950s

Abstract

Whether and to what extent land reform is undertaken is of great importance to a wide range of developing countries as it relates to national economic development. This paper makes a comparative analysis of land reforms in China and India after the 1950s. China's land reform was radical. The landlord class lost control of the land, and China's landless peasants disappeared. India's land reform was more conservative. The landlord class still held a lot of land for a long time, and there are still a large number of landless peasants in India after the 21st century. The comparative analysis shows the differences in land reform policies. This difference led to different results in the development of both agricultural area and industry area between China and India, which indicate that different degrees of land reform have significant impacts on national economic development. The conclusion shows that the land reform which changes land ownership from landlord class to peasant class has a positive effect on economic development. But the land reform of land collectivization does not necessarily play a positive role in the national economic development.