Accessibility navigation


India’s disappearing common lands: fuzzy boundaries, encroachment, and evolving property rights

Robinson, E. J. Z. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4950-0183 (2008) India’s disappearing common lands: fuzzy boundaries, encroachment, and evolving property rights. Land Economics, 84 (3). pp. 409-422. ISSN 1543-8325

Full text not archived in this repository.

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

Official URL: http://le.uwpress.org/content/84/3/409.abstract

Abstract/Summary

Opportunistic land encroachment occurs in many low-income countries, gradually yet pervasively, until discrete areas of common land disappear. This paper, motivated by field observations in Karnataka, India, demonstrates that such an evolution of property rights from common to private may be efficient when the boundaries between common and private land are poorly defined, or ‘‘fuzzy.’’ Using a multi-period optimization model, and introducing the concept of stock and flow enforcement, I show how effectiveness of enforcement effort, whether encroachment is reversible, and punitive fines, influence whether an area of common land is fully defined and protected or gradually or rapidly encroached.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Agri-Food Economics & Marketing
ID Code:26490
Additional Information:DOI 10.3368/le.84.3.409 not currently working
Publisher:University of Wisconsin Press

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation