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The Development of Property Rights on Frontiers: Endowments, Norms, and Politics

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  • ALSTON, LEE J.
  • HARRIS, EDWYNA
  • MUELLER, BERNARDO

Abstract

How do property rights evolve when unoccupied areas attract economic use? Who are the first claimants on the frontier and how do they establish their property rights? When do governments provide de jure property rights? We present a conceptual framework that addresses these questions and apply it to the frontiers of Australia, the United States, and Brazil. Our framework stresses the crucial role of politics as frontiers develop by identifying situations where the competition for land by those with de facto rights and those with de jure rights leads to violence or potential conflicts.

Suggested Citation

  • Alston, Lee J. & Harris, Edwyna & Mueller, Bernardo, 2012. "The Development of Property Rights on Frontiers: Endowments, Norms, and Politics," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(3), pages 741-770, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:72:y:2012:i:03:p:741-770_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Hoang-Anh Ho, 2020. "Tying peasants to their land: The rise and fall of private property rights in historical Vietnam," eabh Papers 20-01, The European Association for Banking and Financial History (EABH).
    2. Rui Wang & Qianmao Zhu & Matthew Noellert, 2024. "Weak central government, strong legal rights: the origins of divergent legal institutions in 18th-century Chinese and Japanese rice markets," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Jérémie GIGNOUX & Karen MACOURS & Liam WREN-LEWIS, 2015. "Impact of land administration programs on agricultural productivity and rural development: existing evidence, challenges and new approaches," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 96(3), pages 467-498.
    4. Kazianga, Harounan & Masters, William A. & McMillan, Margaret S., 2014. "Disease control, demographic change and institutional development in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 313-326.
    5. Sreeparna Saha & Prabal Roy Chowdhury & Jaideep Roy & Grazyna Wiejak-Roy, 2021. "Institutional Imperfections and Buyer-Induced Holdout in Land Acquisition," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 177(3), pages 261-298.
    6. Bragança, Arthur Amorim, 2018. "The Economic Consequences of the Agricultural Expansion in Matopiba," Revista Brasileira de Economia - RBE, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil), vol. 72(2), June.
    7. Steven M. Smith, 2016. "Common Property Resources and New Entrants: Uncovering the Bias and Effects of New Users," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1-36.
    8. Chris Garbers & Guangling Dave Liu, 2017. "Macroprudential policy and foreign interest rate shocks: A comparison of different instruments and regulatory regimes," Working Papers 719, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    9. Berry, Kevin & Delmond, Anthony R. & Morin Chassé, Rémi & Strandholm, John C. & Shogren, Jason F., 2022. "A bargaining experiment under weak property rights, with implications for indigenous title claims," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    10. Daniel Fitzpatrick & Rebecca Monson, 2022. "Property rights and climate migration: Adaptive governance in the South Pacific," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 519-535, April.
    11. James Rycroft & John M. Luiz, 2018. "Homelessness, Property Rights, and Institutional Logics," Working Papers 750, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    12. Merihun Fikru Meja & Bamlaku Alamirew Alemu & Maru Shete, 2021. "Total Factor Productivity of Major Crops in Southern Ethiopia: A Dis-Aggregated Analysis of the Growth Components," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-14, March.
    13. Edwyna Harris & Sumner La Croix, 2021. "Australia’s Forgotten Copper Mining Boom: Understanding How South Australia Avoided Dutch Disease, 1843–1850," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(318), pages 424-439, September.
    14. Sreeparna Saha & Prabal Roy Chowdhury & Jaideep Roy & Prasad Bhattarcharya, 2016. "Political Economy of Land Acquisition and Holdout," Discussion Papers 16-07, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    15. Dongwoo Yoo & Edwyna Harris, 2016. "Conditions of Successful Land Reform: A Study of Micronesia," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(3), pages 292-316, November.
    16. Edwards, Griffin & Robinson, Joshua J., 2019. "You gotta fight for your right? Publicly assigned but privately enforced property rights," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 31-39.
    17. Fernando Zanella & Christopher Westley, 2015. "Degredados, Their Human Agency, and Micro Institutions in Colonial Brazil: An Institutionalist Reinterpretation," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 143-156, January.
    18. Gary D. Libecap, 2018. "Property Rights to Frontier Land and Minerals: US Exceptionalism," NBER Working Papers 24544, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Pal, Sarmistha & Chowdhury, Prabal Roy & Saher, Zoya, 2021. "Land Ceiling Legislations, Land Acquisition and De-industrialisation: Theory and Evidence from the Indian States," IZA Discussion Papers 14624, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Jacek LEWKOWICZ & Katarzyna METELSKA-SZANIAWSKA, 2021. "De Jure and De Facto Institutions: Implications for Law and for Economics," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 6, pages 758-776.
    21. Alan Dye & Sumner La Croix, 2013. "The Political Economy of Land Privatization in Argentina and Australia, 1810-1850: A Puzzle," Working Papers 201311, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    22. Matthew J. Baker & Jonathan Conning, 2023. "A Model of Enclosures: Coordination, Conflict, and Efficiency in the Transformation of Land Property Rights," Papers 2311.01592, arXiv.org.

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