NOTE: Participants are invited to present a case study for class discussion. It need not be a complete case study. It could be the property rights aspects of your proposed research project, or a situation you know about and would like the class to discuss. The only requirement is to provide the class with a written summary of the circumstances involved.
The role of property rights in economic development and environmental protection is increasing recognized. The term “land tenure” is used to refer specifically to the most important natural resource, land. Property rights issues, however, involve much more than land.This short-course will look at property rights in broad terms, although intellectual rights will not be considered. Economic, environmental, and development aspects will be emphasized.
I.Historical development of property rights (4 hours)
Evidence of pre-historical rights structures
Rights under Roman Law
Rights in Castilian Spain
Structure of rights in New Spain and Central America
II.Theoretical background of property rights (2 hours)
Philosophical foundations of rights
Economics of property rights
Externalities and market failure
III.Property Rights, Land Tenure, and Development (2 hours)
Property rights regimes as a development tool
Evidence from Chile
IV. Common property issues – it need not be a tragedy
Common access versus open access resources
Typology for efficient use of common property resources
Evolution of rights
V.Case studies
Honduran land reform – Bill Hoover
Las
Concesiones Forestales Comunitariasin
the Mayan Biosphere,Peten, Guatemala
-
Cornelis
Prins
Meeting
Schedule
May 15: Overview of property rights. Overview (HTML) or Overview PPT
May
17: Meaning of “rights” and
“property.” Primitive
Primitive
property rights structures. Rights
Property
rights in Colonial Spanish America.Colonial
B.Rights under Roman Law
Summary by W. L. Hoover
C.Castilian Spain
Summary by W. L. Hoover
D.Colonization
“Legal aspects of landownership in colonial Spanish America,” Akio Sato, Institute of Developing Economies Special Paper No. 2, Tokyo, Japan. 1976
II.Theoretical background of property rights (2 hours)
Economic Analysis of Property Rights. 1991. Yoram Barzel. Cambridge University Press, NY, p. 1-75.
“Property rights, externalities, and resource degradation: locating the tragedy,” J. of Development Economics 33(1990):235-262.
III.Property Rights, Land Tenure, and Development (2 hours)
The Mystery of Capital. 2000. Hernando de Soto. Basic Books, NY. , p. 1-67.
“Land tenure and property rights: theory and implications for development policy,” Gershon Feder and David Feeny, The World Bank Economic Review 5(1):135-153
IV.Common property issues (2 hours)
“The tragedy of the commons: twenty-two years later,” 1990. David Feeny, Fikret Berks, Bonnie J. McCay, and James M. Acheson. Human Ecology 18(1):1-19.
Making the Commons Work: Theory, Practice, and Policy.1992. Daniel W. Bromley, Gen. Ed., ICS Press, San Francisco, CA
“The commons, property, and common-property regimes,” Chapter 1, David W. Bromley, p. 1-15.
“Common property and collective action in economic development,” Chapter 2, C. Ford Runge, p. 17-39.
“Analyzing the commons: a framework,” Chapter 3, Ronald J. Oakerson, p. 41-59
V.Case studies (4 hours)
A.Honduran
land reform – W.L. Hoover
“Land titling and technical efficiency among small coffee producers in Honduras,”1999. Janelle B. Montaner Larson, Theodosios Palaskas and Godfrey J. Tyler, Canadian J. of Development Studies 20(2):361-382.
B.Las
Concesiones Forestales Comunitariasin
the Mayan Biosphere,Peten, Guatemala
-Cornelis Prins
“Translating legal rights into management practices: overcoming barriers to the exercise of co-management,” Evelyn W. Pinkerton, Human Organization 51(4):330-341.(Cornelis may have an article he’d prefer to use.)
Andrew Reeve, Chapter 31, “Property,” In: A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy(some priority)
Meaning of rights –
Jeremy Waldron, Chapter 33, “Rights,” In: A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy (some priority)
James S. Coleman, Chapter 3, “Right to Act,” In: Foundations of Social Theory
Law and property rights in primitive societies –
Richard A. Posner. 1980. “A Theory of Primitive Society, With Special Reference to Law.” J. of Law and Economics, 23(1):1-53. (priority)
Leigh Anderson and Eugene Swimmer. “Some empirical evidence on property rights of first peoples,”, J. of Economic Behavior & Organization, 33(1997):1-22.
Property rights in colonial Spanish America – Akio Sato. 1976. Legal Aspects of Landownership in Colonial Spanish America. IDE Special Paper No. 2. Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, Japan.