Cooperative Property Rights and Development: Evidence from Land Reform in El Salvador
利用萨尔瓦多1980年土地改革中合作社形成的断点，研究合作产权相对于外部所有权对专业化、生产率和工人公平的影响。
In cooperative property rights systems, workers jointly own and manage production, whereas in outside-ownership systems, an owner contracts workers. Despite a rich literature on how the allocation of property rights matters for specialization, efficiency, and equity, little causal evidence exists. During a land reform in El Salvador in 1980, the military government reorganized properties owned by individuals with cumulative landholdings over 500 hectares into cooperatives; properties below this threshold remained as outside-owned properties. Using the discontinuous probability of cooperative formation, I provide evidence on the effects of cooperative property rights relative to outside ownership on specialization, productivity, and worker equity.