Agrarian reform is a complex process of directed change, and its effects touch society in many ways. Therefore its evaluation may be difficult because the various social, political, and economic objectives may be inconsistent with each other. Even champions of reform and planners may have different ideas about it. Moreover, there are no generally accepted criteria for determining the success of such a program, nor adequate tools for measuring its progress.

Economic indicators and criteria are basically the requisites of economic development. Economic development may be defined as a sustained increase in and achievement of a given level of per capita real income. To be sustained, the rise of per capita real income must be accompanied by changes in the economic and social structures of society, increase in total investment (capital formation), higher productivity, and full employment.

Capital formation in agriculture implies that more resources will be put at the disposal of the farmer in the form of machinery, fertilizers, and irrigation and drainage facilities, all of which contribute to the productive capacity and productivity of the land and the worker. Because capital formation partly depends on domestic saving, a higher rate of capital formation may thus be an indicator of the success of the reform in aiding economic development.

Another indicator is change in land yield or labour productivity. A rise in yield or productivity implies higher efficiency, better use of resources, and an advance in the state of technology. It also suggests an increase in the level of income and potential saving and investment. In fact, the increase in productivity may be the most important single indicator of the contribution made by reform to economic development. Change in the level of rural employment or unemployment provides another indicator, which should be reflected in the level and distribution of income.

Finally, an important indicator may be the change in agriculture’s responsiveness to the demands of industry and manufacturing. The ability of agriculture to provide labour, food, industrial raw materials, and a market for industrial products is a significant measure of its contribution to industrialization and development.

Social and political accomplishments are more difficult to measure. One of the important indicators may be the degree of peasant participation in activities such as voting, representation, and decision making. Social and political stability, or the tendency to change governments by constitutional and nonviolent means and continuity of the social and political order without resort to force, are other indicators.

But these various indicators can only suggest that change has taken place. The results depend on the magnitude and relevance of the change. Assuming that measurement is feasible, three approaches to evaluation may be followed: the goal achievement approach, the perceived achievement approach, and the closing-the-gap (integrative) approach.

Goal achievement considers a program successful to the extent that it realizes the goals specified prior to the reform. Probably the most common economic goal is maximization, according to which efficiency dictates that reform should continue up to the point where the marginal benefit of reform is equal to its marginal cost. Land distribution in this case will continue up to the point where its net benefit is zero. Another common goal is to realize incremental gains as the reform proceeds. The reform would be successful to the extent that the effects have been positive. A 20-percent increase in capital formation in a capital-poor economy, however, may be more significant than a 20-percent increase in a capital-rich economy. Similarly, a 20-percent decline in the number of dissatisfied peasants in a peaceful or democratic society may be more conducive to stability and harmony than a 20-percent decline in a radical or violent society. Hence, this approach requires that a critical minimum achievement be specified as a criterion of success in each situation. Or, as a third alternative, the evaluation may compare the results with targets proclaimed in advance. The degree of success will be the extent to which those targets have been realized. Problems, however, will arise, especially when the goals happen to be contradictory or change over time.

Perceived achievement considers reform successful if the relevant parties perceive their goals as having been satisfied. One of the main objectives of reform has been to reduce conflict and promote harmony, both of which depend on whether a person or group perceives its expectations as fulfilled, whether it has hope that these expectations will be fulfilled, and whether it is able to express these expectations openly. The evaluation, therefore, is primarily subjective, and the net impact can be assessed only by synthesizing the views of the parties affected, including those who might be satisfied to have their losses minimized, just as much as others would want their gains maximized.

The closing-the-gap approach considers a reform successful to the extent that it closes the gap between the sector subject to reform and the more advanced sectors in society; in other words, reform would be expected to help integrate agriculture with the rest of the economy and the rural population with the urban community in terms of opportunities and levels of living. In this sense the reform would remove the dualism between the agrarian and the nonagrarian, between the technologically backward and the technologically advanced, and thus would increase labour mobility in response to the demands of the economy and development.