Extensive land use and the logic of the latifundio: a case study in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica

Journal Article · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985 · Hum. Ecol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531094· OSTI ID:7143319

Edelman, M

Traditional explanations of extensive land use on large unproductive estates in Latin American have failed to understand important aspects of the economic and political logic behind such enterprises. This article examines the reasons for the low productivity of cattle ranches over a period which spans the consolidation of haciendas in a frontier zone and their subsequent integration into the international beef market. The persistence of extensive land use in a modern export economy is explained as resulting from characteristics of the world beef market, local ecology, the Costa Rican credit and tax systems, and the social composition and political power of the landowning class.

• Research Organization: North American Congress on Latin America, New York, NY
• OSTI ID: 7143319
• Journal Information: Hum. Ecol.; (United States), Journal Name: Hum. Ecol.; (United States) Vol. 13:2; ISSN HMECA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290400* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
ANIMALS
CATTLE
CENTRAL AMERICA
COSTA RICA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
ECOSYSTEMS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LAND OWNERSHIP
LAND USE
LATIN AMERICA
LAWS
MAMMALS
MARKET
OWNERSHIP
POLITICAL ASPECTS
PRODUCTIVITY
RANGELANDS
RUMINANTS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
TAX CREDITS
TAX LAWS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
VERTEBRATES