Concentration of land ownership

Concentration of land ownership refers to the ownership of land in a particular area by a small number of people or organizations. It is sometimes defined as additional concentration beyond that which produces optimally efficient land use. Land concentration exists in many countries. In Brazil, one of the countries with the highest amount of land concentration, the situation has resulted in large tracts lying idle while 95% of farmers work just 11% of the arable land. In 2010, the Czech Republic had the highest concentration, according to World Bank figures. In Scotland, just 400 people own more than 50% of privately owned land. Other countries with high land concentration include the United States, Venezuela, Paraguay, South Africa, and Namibia. Land concentration is currently increasing in the European Union and the United States, but decreasing in North Africa. In theory, a free market should allocate land in the most productive way, but in practice landowning groups have disproportionate power in many countries. Landlords seek to control land so they can extract rent, in the form of payments from tenant farmers, or more recently agricultural subsidies and other subsidies from the state. State policies which favor large landowners, such as differential taxation that hits free peasants harder than large landlords and serfs, are an important cause of land concentration. One way that land is accumulated is through unitary inheritance, in contrast to life estates or partible inheritance which tend to redistribute land over time. Conquest can lead to land concentration if the conquerors confiscate land from the original owners. High interest rates or lack of access to credit can block poorer farmers from buying land, while debt can force them to sell to larger landholders. Historically, when land owning becomes less profitable, landowners sell and rural peasants have an opportunity to acquire land. Along with land reform, inheritance taxes and capital gains taxes have also led to the breakup of some estates.