In the traditional view of Costa Rica's economic history, its better human development
performance in relation to its Latin American neighbors is due in no small part to its agrarian system, one that is said to be comprised mostly of humble but secure and solvent yeoman farmers. This differs from Latin America's characteristic Latifundia-Minifundia system, with its highly unequal distribution of land and sharp class distinctions (See Todaro and Smith, chapter 10). In this view, the historical differences are due in part to Costa Rica's lack of factors such as natural resources or a large native American population that would otherwise have drawn Spanish elites, who created the Latifundia-Minifundia system elsewhere in Latin America, to Costa Rica in the colonial period.