"Microfinance has been heralded as an effective way to address imperfections in credit markets. But from a theoretical perspective, the success of microfinance contracts has puzzling elements. In particular, the group-based mechanisms often employed are vulnerable to free-riding and collusion,...

"The authors examine how well several institutional and firm-level factors and their interactions explain firms' perceptions of property rights protection. Their sample includes private and public firms that vary in size from very small to large in 62 countries. Together, the institutional...

This Review attempts to be a timely input into the legal and policy reform agenda and the implementation process on which the Government has embarked. The report has been elaborated in close partnership with the National Land Tenure Reform Program (Programme National Foncier). It has been...

This report centers on the problems stemming from land issues in Nicaragua. The report's main recommendations deal with four priority actions: institutional reform; adjustments to the legal framework; systematic regularization of land rights; and, firmly addressing previous land invasions, and...

Despite several attempts at reform, immovable property rights in Albania are not adequately secure and represent an important governance challenge. Problems have resulted from incomplete first title registration, the lack of accurate cadastral records, and, in many cases, the absence of reliable...