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Mercatus Center at George Mason University
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Paths to Property: Creating Property Rights in Africa
February 27, 2007
Even though secure property rights provide a wide variety of benefits, we should be leery of viewing these benefits as justification for a top-down approach to property reform. The key to successful property reform lies in understanding the de facto environment, including the stakeholders involved, the broad institutional environment, and the customs that apply to property use and transfer. Each factor calls for a discrete response to promote cooperation. When evolutionary or legislative changes to a property-rights environment reflect broad social consensus about how to allocate resources, these changes are more likely to be respected and enforced. However, when changes reflect narrow interests and/or when they enrich local elites or political or business elites, the changes may well lead to conflict—even if these changes are in the direction of increased individualization.
