Thesis--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-105).

During the last two decades two major government policies aimed at bringing structural changes in the system of land tenure in Iran have been implemented. The first was the Land Reform of 1962-66, which transferred the ownership of the land from the large landlords to the peasant and tribal producers. But during the late-sixties and the seventies a second major structural change in the system of land tenure was proposed by the government, this time aimed at the destruction of the already existing peasant, tribal and capitalist producers and the creation of very large-scale agricultural corporations. As the main objective of this policy was to bring about substantial increases in agricultural production and productivities, it is the purpose of this dissertation to examine whether these very large-scale corporations are more productive systems than the already existing autonomous producers. As the proponents of the very large-scale farms argue in terms of gains from economies of scale in very large units and of the superiority of the trained and skilled corporate managers to the family managed peasant farmers, in this dissertation an attempt has been made to examine the effect on productivity of (a) farm size and (b) management system. The following procedure has been adopted to examine the subject. [continued in text ...]