This paper contributes to the debate over land tenure in rural China by conceptualizing and measuring multiple dimensions of property rights in a way which elucidates the competing interests which are affected by the property rights regime. Utilizing a unique village level data set on property rights, this paper argues that the regional and temporal variation in rural property rights signals a ...

Using recent land cover maps, we used matching techniques to analyze forest cover and assess effectiveness in avoiding deforestation in three main land tenure regimes in Panama, namely protected areas, indigenous territories and non-protected areas. We found that the tenure status of protected areas and indigenous territories (including comarcas and claimed lands) explains a higher rate of succ...

This paper attempts to identify the essential elements of the communal land tenure system which contributed to the sustainable use of resources in Africa. A number of factors which could enhance and preserve the sustainable use of communal land tenure systemS (given the socio-economic changes that have taken place) are discussed. Hardin's (1968) idea that resources held in common are likely to ...

A double hurdle statistical analysis of 250 farms in the Tigray region of Ethiopia reveals different causal factors for soil conservation adoption versus intensity of use. Farmers’ reasons for adopting soil conservation measures vary sharply between stone terraces and soil bunds. Long-term investments in stone terraces were associated with secure land tenure, labour availability, proximity to t...

Formalisation of property relations through the registration of land and the issuance of titles is but the latest in a longhistoryof optimistic policyprescriptions imposedon thepoornations of theworld. Aswith the discreditedWashington Consensus, the imperative of formalisation flows from the flawed inductive logic that says” “rich countries have formalised tenure, therefore formalisation of ten...