IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v132y2023ics0264837723002685.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A game theory approach to land acquisition conflicts in Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Shafi, Ahsan
  • Wang, Zhanqi
  • Ehsan, Muhsan
  • Riaz, Faizan Ahmed
  • Ali, Muhammad Rashid
  • Xu, Feng

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in Pakistan requires new public infrastructures, which necessitates land acquisitions. However, Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LAA, 1894) is primitive, recessive, complex, and prone to land conflicts, requiring systematic research exploring the logic of the legal conduct. This paper converts LAA, 1894 into an extensive-form game to explain the logic of land acquisition conflicts in Pakistan, as incumbents interact strategically. The Nash equilibrium (NE) of the extensive-form game suggests Land Acquisition Collector has an absolute advantage over settlers, reasoned by flawed compensation assessment. Thus, a bad win-win situation induces illegitimate behavior, extending the paper to Artificial Price Hike and Corruption-based game models. The mixed-strategy NE of both models suggests that illegitimate behaviors remain unchecked because of the high litigation costs, lack of transparency, the informality of land, and insufficient cadastral information. Finally, the models are calibrated with current land acquisition conflicts and legal precedents in the study area. This paper provides generalized interactive game models applicable to study the logic of land conflicts amid legal and policy implementation and suggests policies to improve the land administration and legal system to manage conflicts.

Suggested Citation

  • Shafi, Ahsan & Wang, Zhanqi & Ehsan, Muhsan & Riaz, Faizan Ahmed & Ali, Muhammad Rashid & Xu, Feng, 2023. "A game theory approach to land acquisition conflicts in Pakistan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:132:y:2023:i:c:s0264837723002685
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106802
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837723002685
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106802?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patil, Vikram & Ghosh, Ranjan & Kathuria, Vinish & Farrell, Katharine N., 2020. "Money, Land or self-employment? Understanding preference heterogeneity in landowners’ choices for compensation under land acquisition in India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. Dadashpoor, Hashem & Ahani, Somayeh, 2019. "Land tenure-related conflicts in peri-urban areas: A review," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 218-229.
    3. Abhijit Banerjee & Lakshmi Iyer, 2005. "History, Institutions, and Economic Performance: The Legacy of Colonial Land Tenure Systems in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1190-1213, September.
    4. Kalabamu, Faustin Tirwirukwa, 2019. "Land tenure reforms and persistence of land conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa – The case of Botswana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 337-345.
    5. Tom Burns & Anna Gomolinska & L. Meeker, 2001. "The Theory of Socially Embedded Games: Applications and Extensions to Open and Closed Games," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 1-32, February.
    6. Keith W. Hipel & Liping Fang & D. Marc Kilgour, 2020. "The Graph Model for Conflict Resolution: Reflections on Three Decades of Development," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 11-60, February.
    7. Araujo, Claudio & Bonjean, Catherine Araujo & Combes, Jean-Louis & Combes Motel, Pascale & Reis, Eustaquio J., 2009. "Property rights and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2461-2468, June.
    8. Chen, Wanxu & Ye, Xinyue & Li, Jiangfeng & Fan, Xin & Liu, Qingsong & Dong, Weichuan, 2019. "Analyzing requisition–compensation balance of farmland policy in China through telecoupling: A case study in the middle reaches of Yangtze River Urban Agglomerations," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 134-146.
    9. Batool, Aysha & Abbas, Faisal, 2017. "Reasons for delay in selected hydro-power projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 196-204.
    10. O'Flaherty, Brendan, 1994. "Land assembly and urban renewal," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 287-300, June.
    11. Jean‐Philippe Platteau, 1996. "The Evolutionary Theory of Land Rights as Applied to Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Critical Assessment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 29-86, January.
    12. Menezes, Flavio & Pitchford, Rohan, 2004. "The land assembly problem revisited," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 155-162, March.
    13. Alston, Lee J. & Libecap, Gary D. & Mueller, Bernardo, 2000. "Land Reform Policies, the Sources of Violent Conflict, and Implications for Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 162-188, March.
    14. Jana, Arnab & Basu, Rounaq & Mukherjee, Conan, 2020. "A game theoretic approach to optimize multi-stakeholder utilities for land acquisition negotiations with informality," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jana, Arnab & Basu, Rounaq & Mukherjee, Conan, 2020. "A game theoretic approach to optimize multi-stakeholder utilities for land acquisition negotiations with informality," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Benito Arruñada & Marco Fabbri & Michael Faure, 2022. "Land Titling and Litigation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(1), pages 131-156.
    3. Mueller, Bernardo, 2022. "Property rights and violence in indigenous land in Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    4. Cadigan, John & Schmitt, Pamela & Shupp, Robert & Swope, Kurtis, 2011. "The holdout problem and urban sprawl: Experimental evidence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 72-81, January.
    5. Daniella Tiemi Sasaki Okida & Osmar Abílio de Carvalho Júnior & Osmar Luiz Ferreira de Carvalho & Roberto Arnaldo Trancoso Gomes & Renato Fontes Guimarães, 2021. "Relationship between Land Property Security and Brazilian Amazon Deforestation in the Mato Grosso State during the Period 2013–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2006. "Tenure security and land-related investment: Evidence from Ethiopia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 1245-1277, July.
    7. Florenz Plassmann & T. Nicolaus Tideman, 2007. "Efficient Urban Renewal Without Takings: Two Solutions to the Land Assembly Problem," Working Papers e07-8, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Economics.
    8. Pailler, Sharon, 2018. "Re-election incentives and deforestation cycles in the Brazilian Amazon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 345-365.
    9. Amir H. Aghmashhadi & Samaneh Zahedi & Azadeh Kazemi & Christine Fürst & Giuseppe T. Cirella, 2022. "Conflict Analysis of Physical Industrial Land Development Policy Using Game Theory and Graph Model for Conflict Resolution in Markazi Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES & Catherine ARAUJO BONJEAN & Claudio ARAUJO & Eustaquio J. REIS, 2010. "Does Land Tenure Insecurity Drive Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?," Working Papers 201013, CERDI.
    11. Walker, Kendra L., 2021. "Effect of land tenure on forest cover and the paradox of private titling in Panama," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Portillo, Javier E., 2019. "Land-assembly and externalities: How do positive post-development externalities affect land aggregation outcomes?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 104-124.
    13. Krishna, Vijesh V. & Kubitza, Christoph & Pascual, Unai & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Land markets, Property rights, and Deforestation: Insights from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 335-349.
    14. João Carrilho & Jorge Trindade, 2022. "Sustainability in Peri-Urban Informal Settlements: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-35, June.
    15. Cheng Zhou & Zaijian Qian & Zhenyan Han, 2023. "Evolutionary Game Analysis of Post-relocation Support Projects for Reservoir Resettlement: Evidence from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 135-152, June.
    16. Winn, Abel M. & McCarter, Matthew W., 2018. "Who's holding out? An experimental study of the benefits and burdens of eminent domain," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 176-185.
    17. Krishna, Vijesh V. & Pascual, Unai & Qaim, Matin, 2014. "Do emerging land markets promote forestland appropriation? Evidence from Indonesia," EFForTS Discussion Paper Series 7, University of Goettingen, Collaborative Research Centre 990 "EFForTS, Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems (Sumatra, Indonesia)".
    18. Marchand, Sébastien, 2012. "The relationship between technical efficiency in agriculture and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 166-175.
    19. Shirzad, Hossein & Barati, Ali Akbar & Ehteshammajd, Shaghayegh & Goli, Imaneh & Siamian, Narges & Moghaddam, Saghi Movahhed & Pour, Mahdad & Tan, Rong & Janečková, Kristina & Sklenička, Petr & Azadi,, 2022. "Agricultural land tenure system in Iran: An overview," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    20. Zilang Cheng & Yanjun Zhang & Lingzhi Wang & Lanyi Wei & Xuying Wu, 2022. "An Analysis of Land-Use Conflict Potential Based on the Perspective of Production–Living–Ecological Function," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:132:y:2023:i:c:s0264837723002685. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.