Myanmar's agricultural economy is in transition from a planned to a market system. However, the economy does not seem to capture the full gains of productivity growth expected from such a transition. Using a micro dataset collected in 2001, covering more than 500 households in eight villages with diverse agro-ecological environments, this paper shows that policy interventions in land use and agricultural marketing underlie the lack of income growth. Regression analyses focusing on within-village variation of cropping patterns show that the acreage share under non-lucrative paddy crops is higher for farmers who are under tighter control of the local administration and who have greater concern for food security.
