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The de Soto Effect

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  • Timothy Besley
  • Maitreesh Ghatak

Abstract

This paper explores the consequences of creating and improving property rights so thatfixed assets can be used as collateral. This has become a cause célèbre of Hernando de Sotowhose views are influential in debates about policy reform concerning property rights.Hence, we refer to the economic impact of such reforms as the de Soto effect. We explore thelogic of the argument for credit contracts, both in isolation, and in market equilibrium. Weshow that the impact will vary with the degree of market competition. Where competition isweak, it is possible that borrowers will be worse off when property rights improve. Wediscuss the implications for optimal policy and the political economy of policy reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Besley & Maitreesh Ghatak, 2009. "The de Soto Effect," STICERD - Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers Series 008, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:stieop:008
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    1. Competition, property rights and credit
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2009-10-23 19:01:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Bellemare, Marc F., 2010. "The Productivity Impacts of de Jure and de Facto Land Rights," MPRA Paper 23639, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Chaoran Chen & Diego Restuccia & Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis, 2023. "Land Misallocation and Productivity," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 441-465, April.
    4. Esther Acquah & Lorenzo Carbonari & Alessio Farcomeni & Giovanni Trovato, 2023. "Institutions and economic development: new measurements and evidence," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 1693-1728, October.
    5. Yanlong Zhang, 2021. "The Demsetz’s Evolutionary Theory of Property Rights as Applied to Rural Land of China: A Supplement," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, August.
    6. Sebastian Galiani & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2011. "Land Property Rights and Resource Allocation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 329-345.
    7. Gani Aldashev, 2009. "Legal institutions, political economy, and development," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 257-270, Summer.
    8. Mauricio de Moura & Marcos Ribeiro & Caio Piza, 2014. "Are there any distributive effects of land title on labor supply? evidence from Brazil," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Rahmat Aris Pratomo & D. Ary A. Samsura & Erwin van der Krabben, 2020. "Transformation of Local People’s Property Rights Induced by New Town Development (Case Studies in Peri-Urban Areas in Indonesia)," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-24, July.
    10. Amendola Nicola & Carbonari Lorenzo & Ferraris Leo, 2020. "Collateral and development," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, January.
    11. Caio Piza & Mauricio José Serpa Barros de Moura, 2011. "How Does Land Title Affect Access to Credit? Empirical Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Working Paper Series 2211, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • P14 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Property Rights
    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law

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