Besley and Ghatak (2001) show that public good should be owned by the agent who values the public good most — irrespective of technological factors. In this paper we relax their assumptions in a natural way by allowing the agents to be indispensable and show that relative valuations are not...

Zak & Knack (2001) demonstrate that interpersonal trust substantially impacts economic growth, and that sufficient interpersonal trust is necessary for economic development. To investigate the ability of policy-makers to affect trust levels, this paper builds a formal model characterizing public...

This study investigates the impact of poverty, social capital and land tenure on the adoption of soil fertility management (SFM) and conservation technologies in Uganda. Considering four land management technologies (fallowing, terracing and inorganic and organic fertilizers), the study...

Renewables require support policies to deliver the European 20% target. We discuss the requirements for least cost development and efficient operation and quantify how different schemes (i) allow for the development of a renewable energy technology portfolio; (ii) reduce rent transfers to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the medium‐term tenure option, in capital valuation terms, through an empirical study of 232 households in 39 tenement properties in Barkinsalle and Saukakahuta, two neighborhoods of Minna, Nigeria widely associated with poor households....

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether enforceability mediates the relationship between property rights and investment in housing, using data from land formalization project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach The study was cross-sectional in design;...

Purpose – It has been argued that traditional land transfer systems provide disincentives for farmers to trade their land, thus reducing land availability and depressing productivity. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of land rentals under customary land ownership in...

Purpose – The paper aims to find out how far the size of household landholding directs patriarchal traits and thus influence women's autonomy. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a two-part methodology. The first part provides theoretical background based on existing literature on...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to attest whether generalized trust variable is the best proxy for social capital in explaining the latter’s effect on economic growth in a panel setting. Via a specially formulated theoretical framework, the authors also test whether the growth-effect of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop the hypothesis that corporations are a particularly suitable instrument for rent seeking. Benefits are reaped by powerful companies, whereas a great deal of the costs is passed on to weakly organized groups. Design/methodology/approach – The...