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The Persistent Legacy of Communist Collectivization for Romanian Land Inequality - A County-Level Analysis

Lahcène, Nico Léon LU (2026) EKHS42 20261
Department of Economic History
Abstract
This thesis examines whether communist collectivization intensity in 1969 is associated with agricultural land inequality in Romania today. Using county-level data for all 41 Romanian județe, I document a positive association between the share of land in collective and state farms in 1969 and the share of utilized agricultural area in farms of 50 hectares or more in 2020. The association predates EU accession, making it unlikely that EU CAP payments created the spatial pattern. Decomposing the treatment into state farm and collective farm components reveals two channels: state farm intensity predicts concentration already established by 2003, while collective farm intensity predicts growth from 2003 to 2020 through the lease market. The... (More)
This thesis examines whether communist collectivization intensity in 1969 is associated with agricultural land inequality in Romania today. Using county-level data for all 41 Romanian județe, I document a positive association between the share of land in collective and state farms in 1969 and the share of utilized agricultural area in farms of 50 hectares or more in 2020. The association predates EU accession, making it unlikely that EU CAP payments created the spatial pattern. Decomposing the treatment into state farm and collective farm components reveals two channels: state farm intensity predicts concentration already established by 2003, while collective farm intensity predicts growth from 2003 to 2020 through the lease market. The physical infrastructure channel is directly tested using tractor density data from the same 1970 primary source. The design is observational and no valid instrument was found. Results are conditional historical associations consistent with institutional path dependence rather than causal estimates. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lahcène, Nico Léon LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS42 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
9245022
date added to LUP
2026-09-07 13:55:53
date last changed
2026-09-07 13:55:53
@misc{9245022,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines whether communist collectivization intensity in 1969 is associated with agricultural land inequality in Romania today. Using county-level data for all 41 Romanian județe, I document a positive association between the share of land in collective and state farms in 1969 and the share of utilized agricultural area in farms of 50 hectares or more in 2020. The association predates EU accession, making it unlikely that EU CAP payments created the spatial pattern. Decomposing the treatment into state farm and collective farm components reveals two channels: state farm intensity predicts concentration already established by 2003, while collective farm intensity predicts growth from 2003 to 2020 through the lease market. The physical infrastructure channel is directly tested using tractor density data from the same 1970 primary source. The design is observational and no valid instrument was found. Results are conditional historical associations consistent with institutional path dependence rather than causal estimates.}},
  author       = {{Lahcène, Nico Léon}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Persistent Legacy of Communist Collectivization for Romanian Land Inequality - A County-Level Analysis}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}