Byerlee, DerekDeininger, Klaus2012-03-192012-03-192011-03-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3355Increased levels and volatility of food prices has led to a surge of interest in large-scale agriculture and land acquisition. This creates challenges for policy makers aiming to establish a policy environment conducive to an agrarian structure to contribute to broad-based development in the long term. Based on a historical review of episodes of growth of large farms and their impact, this paper identifies factors underlying the dominance of owner-operated farm structures and ways in which these may change with development. The amount of land that could potentially be available for expansion and the level of productivity in exploiting available land resources are used to establish a country-level typology. The authors highlight that an assessment of the advantages of large operations, together with information on endowments, can provide input into strategy formulation at the country level. A review of recent cases of land acquisition reinforces the importance of the policy framework in determining outcomes. It suggests that transparency and contract enforcement, recognition of local land rights and ways in which they can be exercised, attention to employment effects and technical viability, and mechanisms to re-allocate land from unsuccessful ventures to more productive entrepreneurs are key areas warranting the attention of policy makers.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONADVERSE SELECTIONAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAGRICULTURAL RESEARCHAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEMSAGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGYAGRICULTUREARABLE LANDBANKSBARGAININGBARGAINING POWERBORROWINGCAPITAL CONSTRAINTSCAPITAL MARKETSCAPITAL REQUIREMENTSCAPITALIZATIONCARBONCARBON EMISSIONSCLIMATE CHANGECLIMATIC CONDITIONSCOLLECTIVE ACTIONCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE MARKETSCONSOLIDATIONCONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPSCREDIT RATIONINGCRITICAL SURVEYCROPSDEFORESTATIONDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDISPLACEMENTECOLOGICAL CONDITIONSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC EFFICIENCYECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMICSECONOMIES OF SCALEECONOMISTSEMISSIONSEMPIRICAL ANALYSISEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEEMPLOYMENTENTREPRENEURSHIPENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONSENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYENVIRONMENTSEXTENSIONFAMILY LABORFARM STRUCTURESFARMERSFARMSFEEDFINANCIAL MARKETSFIXED COSTSFOOD PRICESFORESTRYGENDERGLOBAL INTERESTGROSS REVENUESHUMAN CAPITALIMPERFECT INFORMATIONINCOMEINCOMESINNOVATIONSINPUT PRICESINSURANCEINTEGRATIONINTEREST RATESJOB CREATIONLABOR ABSORPTIONLABOR FORCELABOR LAWSLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR SUPPLYLAND PRICESLAND REFORMLAND RESOURCESLAND SUPPLYLAND TAXESLAND USELAWSLEGAL PROVISIONSLEGISLATIONLIQUIDATIONLIVELIHOODSLIVESTOCKLIVESTOCK PRODUCTSMARKET FAILURESMARKET LIBERALIZATIONMARKET POWERMARKETINGMIGRATIONMONITORING ARRANGEMENTSNATURAL RESOURCESNEGATIVE EXTERNALITIESOILOPPORTUNISTIC BEHAVIOROUTPUTSPASTORALISTSPOLICY ENVIRONMENTPOLICY MAKERSPOPULATION GROWTHPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPRIVATE SECTORPRODUCERSPRODUCTION PROCESSPRODUCTION PROCESSESPRODUCTIVITYPROFITABILITYPROPERTY RIGHTSPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SERVICESR&DREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRENTSRURAL DEVELOPMENTSAVINGSSCIENCE POLICYSERVANTSSKILLED MANPOWERSOCIAL BENEFITSSOCIAL CONFLICTSOILSSUPPLIERSSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTAX REVENUETAXATIONTIMBERTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSACTIONS COSTSTRANSPORTWAGE RATESWAGESWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5588