Browsing by Author "Alston, Lee J."

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An Analysis of Property Rights, Land Value, and Agriculture Investment on Two Frontiers in Brazil
(1993) Alston, Lee J.; Libecap, Gary D.
"In this paper, we examine the determinants of property rights and their interplay with agricultural investment and land value in two Brazilian states, Parana and Para."
The Determinants and Impact of Property Rights: Land Titles on the Brazilian Frontier
(1996) Alston, Lee J.; Libecap, Gary D.; Schneider, Robert
"This paper provides new empirical results regarding the demand and supply of title, its impact on land value, and its effects on agricultural investment on Brazilian frontiers. We use survey data from 1992 and 1993 from the state of Para with data on the characteristics of the settlers, land tenure, land agencies involved, land values, and investment We then turn to census data from the Brazilian agricultural census from 1940 through 1985, with observations at the municipal (county) level to examine the development of property rights to land in the southern state of Parana during the agricultural boom between 1940 and 1970 and in the Amazon state of Para during the period of rapid migration to the region after 1970. By examining frontiers we can follow the rise in land values, the increase in the demand for title, and the response of government. The empirical findings support the predictions of the theory regarding the effects of title and investment on land value, the role of expected change in value on demand for title,and the contribution of title in promoting investment. Governments, however, have not exactly followed the predictions of the analytical framework in supplying title. Political and bureaucratic factors play an important role in the government response to demands for tide. This result suggests that researchers must pay special attention to the complex political process by which property rights are assigned in studying the emergence of tenure institutions."
Land Reform Policies, The Sources of Violent Conflict and Implications for Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
(2001) Alston, Lee J.; Libecap, Gary D.; Mueller, Bernardo
"In this paper we examine land reform policies and their implications for violent conflict over land and resource use in the Brazilian Amazon. We identify the protagonists (land owners and squatters), derive their incentives to use violence, and show the role of legal inconsistencies as a basis for conflict. Although civil law guarantees title for land owners, the Brazilian Constitution adds a beneficial use criterion as a condition for title enforcement. This provision is part of a land reform or redistribution effort and it provides authorization for transfers to squatters. We describe the government agency involved in land reform, INCRA, and show that its intervention critically affects the actions of both squatters and land owners. Further, we point out the resource use effects of land reform policies and associated insecure property rights to land. Forested lands on large farms do not meet the constitutional beneficial use criterion and hence, are vulnerable to invasion by squatters and redistribution by INCRA. In the contest for control, land owners and squatters have incentives to deforest more rapidly and extensively prior to a conflict than agricultural production alone would warrant in order to demonstrate their respective land use. In analyzing the determinants of violent conflict, an analytical framework is provided to generate hypotheses for testing. Using data from the Brazilian census and the Pastoral Land Commission for the state of Pará we examine the characteristics of regions where violent conflict redominates. Our empirical results indicate that a greater policy emphasis on land reform in Brazil through expropriation to reduce violent conflict, may have the unanticipated effect of increasing violent competition and wasteful resource use. The results of the paper are suggestive not only for Brazil, but for elsewhere in Latin America where there is tension between the goals of secure property rights and wealth redistribution."
Property Rights and Land Use in the Brazilian Amazon: Lessons from U.S. Economic History
(1993) Alston, Lee J.; Libecap, Gary D.; Schneider, Robert
"This is the first time that an in depth analysis of property rights to land has been made in the Brazilian Amazon or that a comparison has been made with the historical U.S. experience. The paper outlines U.S. land policies and their impact on property rights. Land use and harvest practices are described for the U.S. South and the Great Lakes States as frontier conditions changed. These patterns are compared with tenure practices, settlement conditions, and land use practices in the Brazilian Amazon."