The Politics of Property Rights Institutions in Africa

The Politics of Property Rights Institutions in Africa
ISBN-10
1139485024
ISBN-13
9781139485029
Category
Political Science
Language
English
Published
2009-12-28
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Author
Ato Kwamena Onoma

Description

Why do some political leaders create and strengthen institutions like title registries and land tribunals that secure property rights to land while others neglect these institutions or destroy those that already exist? How do these institutions evolve once they have been established? This book answers these questions through spatial and temporal comparison of national and subnational cases from Botswana, Ghana, and Kenya and, to a lesser extent, Zimbabwe. Onoma argues that the level of property rights security that leaders prefer depends on how they use land. However, the extent to which leaders' institutional preferences are translated into actual institutions depends on the level of leaders' capacity. Further, once established, these institutions through their very working can contribute to their own decline over time. This book is unique in revealing the political and economic reasons why some leaders unlike others prefer an environment of insecure rights even as land prices increase.

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