Securing Property Rights in Transition : Lessons from Implementation of China's Rural Land Contracting Law

Deininger, Klaus ; Jin, Songqing

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO LAND;    ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS;    AGENTS;    AGRARIAN REFORM;    AGRICULTURAL LAND;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4447
RP-ID  :  WPS4447

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper is motivated by the emphasison secure property rights as a determinant of economicdevelopment in recent literature. The authors use villageand household level information from about 800 villagesthroughout China to explore whether legal reform increasedprotection of land rights against unauthorized reallocationor expropriation with below-average compensation by thestate. The analysis provides nation-wide evidence on asensitive topic. The authors find positive impacts,equivalent to increasing land values by 30 percent, ofreform even in the short term. Reform originated in villageswhere democratic election of leaders ensured a minimum levelof accountability, pointing toward complementarity betweengood governance and legal reform. The paper explores theimplications for situations where individuals and groupshold overlapping rights to land.