Alston, Lee J.; Harris, Edwyna; Mueller, Bernardo - 2009
claim land
(Anderson and Hill 1990). If land is left in open access, this will lead to overuse of the land in the familiar
problem of the “tragedy of the commons.” Furthermore, unless occupants of land have a formal title to … competing demands for de jure rights by heterogeneous claimants, governments
may opt not to legitimate the de facto claims of the initial entrants. We found the greater divergence
between the specification of de jure property rights and their enforcement the greater the …
incumbents is high (Australia and Brazil) de jure rights will tend to support the de facto rights.
Alternatively, where political power is mixed (the U.S.) the specification and enforcement of …