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Property Rights, Productivity, and Common Property Resources: Insights from Rural Cambodia

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  • Markussen, Thomas

Abstract

Summary This paper uses data from the 2003/04 Cambodia Household Socioeconomic Survey to investigate the effects of property rights to land. Plots held with a paper documenting ownership in rural Cambodia are found to have higher productivity and land values than other plots, while property rights have weak effects on access to credit. The paper also investigates whether the introduction of private property rights leads to decreased availability of common property resources. The data offers only weak support for this hypothesis. The general insight is that policies to strengthen land property rights can have important, positive effects on the rural economy, even in an environment of low state capacity.

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  • Markussen, Thomas, 2008. "Property Rights, Productivity, and Common Property Resources: Insights from Rural Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2277-2296, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:11:p:2277-2296
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    2. Conor Carney & Ryan Abman, 2018. "Land rights, agricultural productivity, and deforestation in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 88, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Chia-Nan Lin & Bor-Wen Tsai, 2021. "Implementation of Indigenous Knowledge on Local Spatial Management: A Case Study in Orchid Island (Lanyu), Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Thomas Markussen, 2015. "Land issues in Vietnam 2006-14: Markets, property rights, and investment," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Kimlong Chheng & Budy P. Resosudarmo, 2021. "Land property rights and food insecurity in rural Cambodia," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(6), pages 1911-1929, December.
    6. Ratner, Blake D., 2011. "Common-pool resources, livelihoods, and resilience: Critical challenges for governance in Cambodia," IFPRI discussion papers 1149, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Lacuna-Richman, Celeste & Devkota, Bishnu P. & Richman, Mark A., 2016. "Users' priorities for good governance in community forestry: Two cases from Nepal's Terai Region," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 69-78.
    8. Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling & Pau Chung Leng & Chin Siong Ho, 2019. "Effects of Diverse Property Rights on Rural Neighbourhood Public Open Space (POS) Governance: Evidence from Sabah, Malaysia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-33, June.
    9. Thomas Markussen & Finn Tarp & Katleen Van den Broeck, 2009. "The Forgotten Property Rights: Restrictions on Land Use in Vietnam," Discussion Papers 09-21, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    10. Diwakar, Vidya & Shepherd, Andrew, 2022. "Sustaining escapes from poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Ryan Abman & Conor Carney, 2018. "Land rights, agricultural productivity, and deforestation in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-88, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Flower, Benjamin C.R., 2018. "Does informal tenure result in land inequality? A critique of tenure formalisation reforms in Cambodia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 240-248.
    13. Tawanda Chingozha & Dieter von Fintel, 2019. "Property rights, market access and crop cultivation in Southern Rhodesia: evidence from historical satellite data," Working Papers 03/2019, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    14. Meeks, Robyn, 2018. "Property Rights and Water Access: Evidence from Land Titling in Rural Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 345-357.
    15. Pi Jiancai & Ge Yang & Yin Jun, 2017. "The Impacts of Rural Property Rights on Urban Unemployment, Wage Inequality, and Welfare in Developing Countries," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, February.
    16. Thomas Markussen, 2015. "Land issues in Vietnam 2006-14: Markets, property rights, and investment," WIDER Working Paper Series 088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Markussen, Thomas & Tarp, Finn & Van Den Broeck, Katleen, 2011. "The Forgotten Property Rights: Evidence on Land Use Rights in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 839-850, May.
    18. Johnston, Robyn & Hoanh, Chu Thai & Lacombe, Guillaume & Lefroy, R. & Pavelic, Paul & Fry, Carolyn., 2012. "Managing water in rainfed agriculture in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Final report prepared by IWMI for Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)," IWMI Research Reports H044646, International Water Management Institute.
    19. Legesse, Befikadu A. & Jefferson-Moore, Kenrett & Thomas, Terrence, 2018. "Impacts of land tenure and property rights on reforestation intervention in Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 494-499.
    20. Emilie Beauchamp & Tom Clements & E. J. Milner-Gulland, 2019. "Investigating Perceptions of Land Issues in a Threatened Landscape in Northern Cambodia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-20, October.
    21. Abman, Ryan & Carney, Conor, 2020. "Land rights, agricultural productivity, and deforestation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    22. Lawson-Remer, Terra, 2013. "Do Stronger Collective Property Rights Improve Household Welfare? Evidence from a Field Study in Fiji," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 207-225.
    23. Jehovaness Aikaeli & Thomas Markussen, 2022. "Titling and the value of land in Tanzania," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(3), pages 512-531, April.

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