Securing property rights in transition : lessons from implementation of China's rural land contracting law
Deininger, Klaus et al.
Motivated by the emphasis on secure property rights as a determinant of economic development in recent literature, we use village- and household level information from about 800 villages throughout China to explore whether legal reform increased protection of land rights against unauthorized reallocation or expropriation with below-average compensation by the state. In addition to providing nation-wide evidence on a sensitive topic, we find positive impacts, equivalent increasing land values by 30%, of reform even in the short term that originated in villages where democratic election of leaders ensured a minimum level of accountability, pointing towards complementarity between good governance and legal reform. Implications for situations where individuals and groups hold overlapping rights to land are explored.
Event: Conference on Land Governance in Support of the MDG's : Responding to New Challenges
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