IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/worpps/46.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Subdividing the commons: the politics of property rights transformation in Kenya's Maasailand

Author

Listed:
  • Mwangi, Esther

Abstract

"This paper discusses the internal processes and decisions that characterized the transition from collectively held group ranches to individualized property systems among the Maasai pastoralists of Kajiado district in Kenya. It addresses the question of why group ranch members would demand individualized property systems, but then turn against the outcome. In addressing this puzzle the paper discusses the process of land allocation and distribution during group ranch subdivision. It examines who the main actors were during subdivision, their degree of latitude in crafting and changing rules, and the interactions between Maasai and state institutions. Findings suggest that, because the process by which property rights change is so intertwined with politics, we may need to move beyond economic models of relative price changes and state enforcement in order to better understand such transitions. Models that accommodate competition by actors and the possibility that state actors may not provide the arbitration or enforcement that is often taken for granted are more useful for analyzing the complexities of shifting property rights. When the possibility for conflict and competition is factored into the property rights equation, the relative gains from privatizing/individualizing may not be as large or as obvious as anticipated." Author's Abstract

Suggested Citation

  • Mwangi, Esther, 2006. "Subdividing the commons: the politics of property rights transformation in Kenya's Maasailand," CAPRi working papers 46, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:worpps:46
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifpri.org/cdmref/p15738coll2/id/32729/filename/32730.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Firmin-Sellers, Kathryn, 1995. "The Politics of Property Rights," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(4), pages 867-881, December.
    2. Mwangi, Esther, 2006. "The footprints of history: path dependence in the transformation of property rights in Kenya's Maasailand," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 157-180, August.
    3. Munoz-Pina, Carlos & de Janvry, Alain & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2003. "Recrafting Rights over Common Property Resources in Mexico," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 129-158, October.
    4. Edella Schlager & Elinor Ostrom, 1992. "Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(3), pages 249-262.
    5. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. & Brown, Lynn R. & Feldstein, Hilary Sims & Quisumbing, Agnes R., 1997. "Gender, property rights, and natural resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 1303-1315, August.
    6. Bardhan, Pranab, 1987. "Alternative Approaches to the Theory of Institutions in Economic Development," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt4t97z6v6, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    7. Jean-Marie Baland & Jean-Philippe Platteau, 1998. "Division of the Commons: A Partial Assessment of the New Institutional Economics of Land Rights," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(3), pages 644-650.
    8. Munoz-Pina, Carlos & de Janvry, Alain & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2003. "Recrafting Rights over Common Property Resources in Mexico," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 129-158, October.
    9. Alchian, Armen A. & Demsetz, Harold, 1973. "The Property Right Paradigm," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 16-27, March.
    10. Philip Woodhouse, 1997. "Governance & local environmental management in Africa," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(74), pages 537-547, December.
    11. Jodha, N.S., 1992. "Common Property Resources; A Missing Dimension of development Strategies," World Bank - Discussion Papers 168, World Bank.
    12. Anderson, Terry L & Hill, Peter J, 1975. "The Evolution of Property Rights: A Study of the American West," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 163-179, April.
    13. Eggertsson,Thrainn, 1990. "Economic Behavior and Institutions," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521348911, October.
    14. Ruttan, Vernon W, 1997. "Induced Innovation, Evolutionary Theory and Path Dependence:," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(444), pages 1520-1529, September.
    15. Banner, Stuart, 2002. "Transitions between Property Regimes," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(2), pages 359-371, June.
    16. Knox, Anna & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Hazell, P. B. R., 1998. "Property rights, collective action and technologies for natural resource management: a conceptual framework," CAPRi working papers 1, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mwangi, Esther, 2007. "Subdividing the Commons: Distributional Conflict in the Transition from Collective to Individual Property Rights in Kenya's Maasailand," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 815-834, May.
    2. Meina Cai & Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Murtazashvili & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2020. "Individualism and governance of the commons," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 175-195, July.
    3. Jongwook Kim & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2002. "Resource-based and property rights perspectives on value creation: the case of oil field unitization," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(4-5), pages 225-245.
    4. Akee, Randall K. Q., 2006. "Checkerboards and Coase: Transactions Costs and Efficiency in Land Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 2438, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Harris,Colin & Cai,Meina & Murtazashvili,Ilia & Murtazashvili,Jennifer Brick, 2020. "The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108969055, October.
    6. Dolejší, David, 2018. "Coproduction of property rights: The management of watercourses in pre-modern Bohemia," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 50-59.
    7. Smith, Steven M., 2021. "The relative economic merits of alternative water right systems," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Deslatte, Aaron & Szmigiel-Rawska, Katarzyna & Tavares, António F. & Ślawska, Justyna & Karsznia, Izabela & Łukomska, Julita, 2022. "Land use institutions and social-ecological systems: A spatial analysis of local landscape changes in Poland," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    9. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2008. "A Strategic Theory of the Firm as a Nexus of Incomplete Contracts: A Property Rights Approach," Working Papers 08-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    10. Seth W. Norton, 2003. "Economic Institutions and Human Well-Being: A Cross-National Analysis," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 29(1), pages 23-40, Winter.
    11. Bandason, Wellington & Parwada, Cosmas & Mushunje, Abbyssinia, 2022. "Macadamia Nuts (Macadamia intergrifolia) Value Chain and Technical Efficiency among the Small-scale Farmers in Zimbabwe," Research on World Agricultural Economy, Nan Yang Academy of Sciences Pte Ltd (NASS), vol. 3(4), December.
    12. MAREK HUDON & BENJAMIN HUYBRECHTS & Anaïs PÉRILLEUX & Marthe NYSSENS, 2017. "Understanding Cooperative Finance As A New Common," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 155-177, June.
    13. Allendorf, Keera, 2007. "Do Women's Land Rights Promote Empowerment and Child Health in Nepal?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 1975-1988, November.
    14. Ghebru, Hosaena, 2015. "Is There a Merit to the Continuum Tenure Approach? A Case of Demand for Land Rights Formulation in Rural Mozambique," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211683, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Scherr, Sara J., 2000. "A downward spiral? Research evidence on the relationship between poverty and natural resource degradation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 479-498, August.
    16. Karel Zeman, 2018. "Analýza teorie vlastnických práv [Theory of Ownership Rights Analysis]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2018(1), pages 99-115.
    17. Monkkonen, Paavo, 2016. "Where do Property Rights Matter More? Explaining the Variation in Demand for Property Titles across Cities in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 67-78.
    18. Martina Eckardt & Wolfgang Kerber, 2024. "Property rights theory, bundles of rights on IoT data, and the EU Data Act," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 113-143, April.
    19. Coriat, Benjamin, 2013. "Le retour des communs," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 14.
    20. Erin C. Pischke & M. Azahara Mesa-Jurado & Amarella Eastmond & Jesse Abrams & Kathleen E. Halvorsen, 2018. "Community perceptions of socioecological stressors and risk-reducing strategies in Tabasco, Mexico," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(4), pages 441-451, December.

    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:fpr:worpps:46. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.html .

    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.