Just in time: Political policy cycles of land reform

Abstract

While the political budget cycle literature focuses on the manipulation of existing policies, an analysis of the impact of the passage of redistributive policies themselves remains absent. I contend that policy passage is a strategically timed signal to voters used before elections to benefit the incumbent. Using aggregate data on land reforms in India from 1957 to 1992, I find that reforms are indeed timed before elections. Second, using historical survey data, I show that land issues remain a strong signal to Indian voters over time, even in states that have already enacted reforms. These findings provide evidence for political policy cycles.