Property Rights and Economic Growth: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Brunt, Liam

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1969882

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Property Rights and Economic Growth: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

NHH Dept. of Economics Discussion Paper No. 20/2011

56 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2011

See all articles by Liam Brunt

Liam Brunt

NHH - Norwegian School of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

There are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 8, 2011

Abstract

In 1795 the British took control of the Cape colony (South Africa) from the Dutch; and in 1843 they exogenously changed the legal basis of landholding, giving more secure property rights to landholders. Since endowments and other factors were held constant, these changes offer clean tests of the effects on economic growth of colonial identity and secure property rights. The effects of both changes were immediate, positive and large. Other legal and institutional changes, such as the move to a common law system in 1827, had no such effects on economic growth.

Keywords: Economic growth, legal origins, property rights

JEL Classification: N47, O43

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Brunt, Liam, Property Rights and Economic Growth: Evidence from a Natural Experiment (November 8, 2011). NHH Dept. of Economics Discussion Paper No. 20/2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1969882 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1969882