Securing Property Rights in Transition: Lessons from Implementation of China's Rural Land Contracting Law
Motivated by the emphasis on secure property rights as a determinant of economic development in recent literature, we use village- and household-level information from about 800 villages throughout China to explore whether legal reform increased protection of land rights against unauthorized reallocation or expropriation with below-average compensation by the state. In addition to providing nation-wide evidence on a sensitive topic, we find positive impacts, equivalent increasing land values by 30 percent, of reform even in the short term that originated in villages where democratic election of leaders ensured a minimum level of accountability, pointing towards complementarity between good governance and legal reform. Implications for situations where individuals and groups hold overlapping rights to land are explored.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article biblioteca |
| Language: | EN |
| Published: |
2009
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| Subjects: | Property Law K110, Formal and Informal Sectors, Shadow Economy, Institutional Arrangements O170, Economic Development: Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses, Transportation O180, Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics P250, Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Political Economy, Property Rights P260, Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Performance and Prospects P270, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5621 |
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| Summary: | Motivated by the emphasis on secure property rights as a determinant of economic development in recent literature, we use village- and household-level information from about 800 villages throughout China to explore whether legal reform increased protection of land rights against unauthorized reallocation or expropriation with below-average compensation by the state. In addition to providing nation-wide evidence on a sensitive topic, we find positive impacts, equivalent increasing land values by 30 percent, of reform even in the short term that originated in villages where democratic election of leaders ensured a minimum level of accountability, pointing towards complementarity between good governance and legal reform. Implications for situations where individuals and groups hold overlapping rights to land are explored. |
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