The cost of property rights
Subtitle: establishing institutions on the Philippine frontier under American rule, 1898-1918
By: Lakshmi Iyer, Noel Maurer
Contributors: Maurer, Noel; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 09-023; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 09-023
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 55
Description: We examine three reforms to property rights introduced by the United States in the Philippines in the early 20th century: the redistribution of large estates to their tenants, the creation of a system of secure land titles, and a homestead program to encourage cultivation of public lands. During the first phase of American occupation (1898-1918), we find that the progress of implementing these reforms was very slow. As a consequence, tenure insecurity increased over this period, and the distribution of farm sizes remained extremely unequal. We identify two primary causes for the slow progress of reform: first, the high cost of implementing these programs was a major factor in reducing take-up. On the other hand, the government was reluctant to evict delinquent or informal cultivators, especially on public lands. This reduced the costs of tenure insecurity. Political constraints prevented the government from subsidizing land reforms to a greater degree.
Notes: "August 2008"--Publisher's web site.

Includes bibliographical references.