IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v92y2017icp167-176.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Legal Environment and Incentives for Change in Property Rights Institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Hamilton-Hart, Natasha

Abstract

Land conflicts in many parts of the world indicate pressures for change in the property rights institutions governing land acquisition and land use. Whether or not institutional change occurs depends on the incentives and capacities of political actors. This article argues that the legal environment is one factor influencing incentives for institutional change. Three case studies of land governance in Southeast Asia’s palm oil industry illustrate three types of legal environment—rule-by-law legalism, legal pluralism and lawlessness, or routinized illegality. The cases show that the legal environment shapes modes of resistance to property reallocations in the palm oil industry. Rule-by-law legalism supports legalized modes of resistance through the court system. In contrast, legal pluralism and lawlessness favor the use of political strategies to contest property reallocations. The mode of resistance in turn determines whether actors acquiring property have incentives to gain legal cover, or whether investing in political resources is more rewarding. Although the effectiveness of resistance is largely determined by the distribution of political resources, the mode of resistance helps explain whether there is demand for property rights institutions that offer generalized legal certainty in property protection. Path-dependence arising from the legal environment therefore influences the direction of institutional change.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamilton-Hart, Natasha, 2017. "The Legal Environment and Incentives for Change in Property Rights Institutions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 167-176.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:92:y:2017:i:c:p:167-176
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16305551
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.12.002?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. Dani Rodrik, 2006. "Institutions for High-Quality Growth: What They Are and How to Acquire Them," Chapters, in: Kartik Roy & Jörn Sideras (ed.), Institutions, Globalisation and Empowerment, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. David Stasavage, 2002. "Credible Commitment in Early Modern Europe: North and Weingast Revisited," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 155-186, April.
    3. Binswanger, Hans P. & Deininger, Klaus & Feder, Gershon, 1995. "Power, distortions, revolt and reform in agricultural land relations," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 42, pages 2659-2772, Elsevier.
    4. Dawson, Andrew, 2013. "The Social Determinants of the Rule of Law: A Comparison of Jamaica and Barbados," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 314-324.
    5. North, Douglass C. & Weingast, Barry R., 1989. "Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 803-832, December.
    6. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    7. John McCarthy, 2000. "The Changing Regime: Forest Property and Reformasi in Indonesia," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 91-129, January.
    8. Melanie Pichler, 2015. "Legal Dispossession: State Strategies and Selectivities in the Expansion of Indonesian Palm Oil and Agrofuel Production," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(3), pages 508-533, May.
    9. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2002. "Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1231-1294.
    10. Haggard, Stephan & Tiede, Lydia, 2011. "The Rule of Law and Economic Growth: Where are We?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 673-685, May.
    11. Spiegel, Samuel J., 2012. "Governance Institutions, Resource Rights Regimes, and the Informal Mining Sector: Regulatory Complexities in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 189-205.
    12. Van Leeuwen, Mathijs & Van Der Haar, Gemma, 2016. "Theorizing the Land–Violent Conflict Nexus," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 94-104.
    13. McCarthy, John F. & Gillespie, Piers & Zen, Zahari, 2012. "Swimming Upstream: Local Indonesian Production Networks in “Globalized” Palm Oil Production," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 555-569.
    14. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Pradhan, Rajendra, 2002. "Legal pluralism and dynamic property rights," CAPRi working papers 22, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Benjamin, Charles E., 2008. "Legal Pluralism and Decentralization: Natural Resource Management in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2255-2276, November.
    16. German, Laura & Schoneveld, George & Mwangi, Esther, 2013. "Contemporary Processes of Large-Scale Land Acquisition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Legal Deficiency or Elite Capture of the Rule of Law?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-18.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Burns, Anthony Francis & Rajabifard, Abbas & Shojaei, Davood, 2023. "Undertaking land administration reform: Is there a better way?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Hirons, M. & McDermott, C. & Asare, R. & Morel, A. & Robinson, E. & Mason, J. & Boyd, E. & Malhi, Y. & Norris, K, 2018. "Illegality and inequity in Ghana’s cocoa-forest landscape: How formalization can undermine farmers control and benefits from trees on their farms," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 405-413.

    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. Wafa Ghardallou & Dorsaf Sridi, 2020. "Democracy and Economic Growth: a Literature Review," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(3), pages 982-1002, September.
    2. Stephen Weymouth & J. Lawrence Broz, 2013. "Government Partisanship and Property Rights: Cross-Country Firm-Level Evidence," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 229-256, July.
    3. Tamer Cetin & Yildirim B. Cicen & Kadir Y. Eryigit, 2016. "Do Institutions Matter for Economic Performance? Theoretical Insights and Evidence from Turkey," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 1610, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    4. Scott Gehlbach & Konstantin Sonin & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2010. "Businessman Candidates," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 718-736, July.
    5. Chakraborty, Adrij, 2017. "Colonial Origins and Comparative Development: Institutions Matter," MPRA Paper 86320, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Feb 2018.
    6. Andrea Asoni, 2008. "Protection Of Property Rights And Growth As Political Equilibria," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 953-987, December.
    7. Casson, Mark C. & Della Giusta, Marina & Kambhampati, Uma S., 2010. "Formal and Informal Institutions and Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 137-141, February.
    8. Sukkoo Kim, 2007. "Institutions and U.S. Regional Development: A Study of Massachusetts and Virginia," NBER Working Papers 13431, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Ketterer, Tobias, 2016. "Institutions vs. ‘First-Nature’ Geography – What Drives Economic Growth in Europe’s Regions?," CEPR Discussion Papers 11322, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Mauricio Cárdenas, 2007. "Economic Growth in Colombia : a reversal of "fortune"?," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 25(53), pages 220-259, January.
    11. Hans-Bernd Schaefer & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Islamic Law, Western European Law and the Roots of Middle East's Long Divergence: a Comparative Empirical Investigation (800-1600)," Papers 2401.14435, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    12. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    13. James A. Robinson, 2006. "Equity, Institutions and the Development Process," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 32, pages 17-50.
    14. Sam Hak Kan Tang & Charles Ka Yui Leung, 2016. "The Deep Historical Roots of Macroeconomic Volatility," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(299), pages 568-589, December.
    15. Abdoul’ Mijiyawa, 2013. "Determinants of property rights institutions: survey of literature and new evidence," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 127-183, May.
    16. Martina Cioni & Giovanni Federico & Michelangelo Vasta, 2020. "The long-term evolution of economic history: evidence from the top five field journals (1927–2017)," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 14(1), pages 1-39, January.
    17. Elena Sochirca & Francisco José Veiga, 2021. "Key determinants of elite rivalry: theoretical insights and empirical evidence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(2), pages 277-291, January.
    18. Nobuhiro Mizuno & Katsuyuki Naito & Ryosuke Okazawa, 2017. "Inequality, extractive institutions, and growth in nondemocratic regimes," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 115-142, January.
    19. Sha, Wenbiao, 2023. "The political impacts of land expropriation in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    20. Eicher, Theo & García-Peñalosa, Cecilia, 2008. "Endogenous strength of intellectual property rights: Implications for economic development and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 237-258, February.

    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:wdevel:v:92:y:2017:i:c:p:167-176. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    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.