Derechos de propiedad, crecimiento económico y desigualdad en la región pampeana, siglos XVIII y XIX

Abstract

This article discusses the relationship between the institution of 'liberal' property rights and the possibilities of long term economic growth established by most part of the historiography. The case study is the Pampa region in the transition between the colonial period and the 19th century. First it deals with the establishment of ideas encouraging liberal economic reforms among local elites. Later on the difficulties founded to achieve those goals, in spite of which we can verify a strong economic growth process. In consequence we propose the hypothesis that the discussion about property right was related more to a debate about wealth distribution than about the possibility of economic growth itself.