Paths to Property: Approaches to Institutional Change in International Development

63 Pages Posted: 17 Jan 2008

See all articles by Karol Boudreaux

Karol Boudreaux

Independent

Paul Dragos Aligica

George Mason University - Mercatus Center

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa has received tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid over the last fifty years yet economic development has remained elusive. In many countries absolute poverty has increased and life expectancy has declined. Karol Boudreaux and Paul Aligica argue that the results of traditional approaches to development policy have been disappointing. Instead, the focus needs to be on the adoption of sound political and legal institutions. In particular, clearly defined and enforced private property rights are needed to encourage entrepreneurship and economic growth. However, institutional environments in Africa are both complex and challenging, and the creation of secure property rights is far from a straightforward process. The authors examine several case studies of property rights reform in the developing world and suggest that universal policies applied regardless of local culture and tradition tend to fail. Reforms are more likely to succeed when they evolve gradually and are tailored to local norms and values rather than imposed from above by governments, aid agencies and supranational institutions.

Keywords: Property Rights, Economic Development, New Institutional Economics

JEL Classification: 010, 013, 017, 019, 020, 055, A13, K11, L33

Suggested Citation

Boudreaux, Karol and Aligica, Paul Dragos, Paths to Property: Approaches to Institutional Change in International Development. Institute of Economic Affairs Monographs, Hobart Paper, No. 162, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1084799

Paul Dragos Aligica

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

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