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Securing property rights in transition: lessons from implementation of China's rural land contracting law

Author

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  • Deininger, Klaus
  • Jin, Songqing
Abstract
This paper is motivated by the emphasis on secure property rights as a determinant of economic development in recent literature. The authors use village and household level information from about 800 villages throughout China to explore whether legal reform increased protection of land rights against unauthorized reallocation or expropriation with below-average compensation by the state. The analysis provides nation-wide evidence on a sensitive topic. The authors find positive impacts, equivalent to increasing land values by 30 percent, of reform even in the short term. Reform originated in villages where democratic election of leaders ensured a minimum level of accountability, pointing toward complementarity between good governance and legal reform. The paper explores the implications for situations where individuals and groups hold overlapping rights to land.

Suggested Citation

  • Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2007. "Securing property rights in transition: lessons from implementation of China's rural land contracting law," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4447, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4447
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Common Property Resource Development; Municipal Housing and Land; Access to Finance; Political Economy; Land and Real Estate Development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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