The Virtuous Cycle of Property
Keyword(s):
The article shows that formalizing private property rights has a positive effect on the propensity to respect the property of others. We study a recent large-scale land tenure reform in West Africa which was the first of its kind to be implemented as a randomized control-trial. Results of a modified dictator game show that the formalization of private property rights reduced an individual's willingness to take from others' endowment. We used additional experimental measures and post-experimental survey data to rule out alternative explanations for the observed behavior that do not imply a change in preferences.
2002 ◽
Vol 50
(4)
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pp. 793-817
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1995 ◽
Vol 89
(4)
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pp. 867-881
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2018 ◽
Keyword(s):