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Urbanization and land property rights

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  • Cai, Yongyang
  • Selod, Harris
  • Steinbuks, Jevgenijs

Abstract

We analyze the joint dynamics of land property rights and urbanization, a key yet underexplored relation that underpins the process of economic development. Using a dynamic stochastic model of urbanization with endogenous demand for property rights over land use, we demonstrate that the costly provision of those rights may result in both residential informality that can persist over time and suboptimal urbanization whereby cities are too small and insufficiently productive. In developing countries, because land administrations in charge of issuing titles are difficult to reform, achieving the second best may require acceptance of some level of informality in spite of the negative externalities stemming from informal land tenure and informal settlements. This may not be easily implemented as urban elites may favor overall welfare-reducing policies that over-evict informal dwellers.

Suggested Citation

  • Cai, Yongyang & Selod, Harris & Steinbuks, Jevgenijs, 2018. "Urbanization and land property rights," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 246-257.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:246-257
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2018.04.007
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    Cited by:

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    2. Letrouit,Lucie Michele Maya & Selod,Harris, 2020. "Trust or Property Rights ? Can Trusted Relationships Substitute for Costly Land Registration in West African Cities ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9310, The World Bank.
    3. Yongyang Cai & William Brock & Anastasios Xepapadeas & Kenneth Judd, 2019. "Climate Policy under Spatial Heat Transport: Cooperative and Noncooperative Regional Outcomes," Papers 1909.04009, arXiv.org.
    4. Brueckner, Jan K. & Rabe, Claus & Selod, Harris, 2019. "Backyarding: Theory and evidence for South Africa," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Celhay, Pablo & Undurraga, Raimundo, 2022. "Location Preferences and Slums Formation: Evidence from a Panel of Residence Histories," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Pierre M. Picard & Harris Selod, 2023. "Customary Land Conversion in African Cities," DEM Discussion Paper Series 23-09, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    7. M. Picard,Pierre & Selod,Harris, 2020. "Customary Land Conversion and the Formation of the African City," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9192, The World Bank.
    8. Alves, Guillermo, 2021. "Slum growth in Brazilian cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    9. Munshifwa, Ephraim Kabunda, 2023. "Institutional analysis and informal urban settlements: A proposition for a new institutionalist grounded property rights perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    10. Per G. Fredriksson & Satyendra Kumar Gupta & Weihua Zhao & Jim R. Wollscheid, 2023. "Legal heritage and urban slums," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 236-252, January.
    11. Yang, Chen & Qian, Zhu, 2022. "The complexity of property rights embedded in the rural-to-urban resettlement of China: A case of Hangzhou," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    12. Libang Ma & Meimei Chen & Xinglong Che & Fang Fang, 2019. "Research on Population-Land-Industry Relationship Pattern in Underdeveloped Regions: Gansu Province of Western China as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, April.
    13. Yujun Zhou & Jingming Liu & Xiang Kang, 2022. "Market-Driven Rural Construction—A Case Study of Fuhong Town, Chengdu," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-19, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agglomeration effects; Residential informality; Land property rights; Urbanization dynamics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • P14 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Property Rights
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns

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