Why States Matter in Economic Development

5 Brazil’s Stunted DevelopmentNeither Enough Order Nor Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003044123-5

5.1 Introduction

In this chapter we take the case of Brazil. We study the colonial legacy of Brazil and what kind of central state it inherited at the time of its independence, and what was the level of its land inequality in the whole country as well as their different regions. We will start our analysis at the national level and describe how its central government was and is captured by the landed elite, which has prevented the institutions from building an effective and efficient developmental state. In contrast, with the case study provided on South Korea in the previous chapter, it was only when the country implemented thorough land reform that ...