Population growth, economic progress, and opportunities on the land : the case of Costa Rica

Instead of a hacienda economic organization the family agricultural unit emerged as the basis for economic survival. This economic organization resulted in an almost classless society, providing the basis for a democratic government. It did not, however, insure a good working relationship between state and economy, resulting in an economic policy which permitted the emergence of a powerful economic group with a dependent, landless laborer group, particularly in the coffee-growing areas. The powerful group soon controlled the government and used its power for its own ends. Labor is an increasingly costly factor in both agricultural and industrial production. As a result, capital investment in mechanization is limiting the size of the labor force. There now exists a dual economy with a subsistence sector, almost exclusively agricultural, and a capitalist sector which includes government and industry. The sectors must be integrated through the development and equalization of opportunities if a constitutional democratic form of government is to be preserved.