The Building Process of Property Rights: The Case of Urban Squatters in Peru

93 Pages Posted: 26 Feb 2007

See all articles by Richard Webb

Richard Webb

University of San Martín de Porres - Economic Research Center

Diether W. Beuermann

University of Maryland - College Park; Durham Business School; Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); Universidad de Lima - Facultad de Economia

Carla Revilla

Center for Economics Research - Universidad San Martin de Porres

Date Written: December 2006

Abstract

Property rights in urban squatters have a diversity of origins, evolve gradually, and are greater than what is thought. As a consequence, the benefits of these rights are also generated in a partial and gradual fashion, as the consolidation of these rights evolves. This vision is based on empirical evidence detailed in the document, as well as on a review of the norms that rule these rights.

Based on this view, we assess the information disclosed by the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) on December 17, 2004. This information was referred to the economic effects of a massive land titling program carried out by the Peruvian Government during the 1990's. We show that the suggested economic benefits suffer from calculation and interpretation mistakes. In that way, it appears that there have been huge overestimations of the net benefits that could be attributable to this titling program.

We hope that this interpretation would provide a more realistic guide for the formalization and implementation of policies oriented towards property rights strengthening and urban poverty reduction.

Note: Downloadable document is in Spanish.

Keywords: Property Rights, Squatters

JEL Classification: I31, I32, I38, K11, O17

Suggested Citation

Webb, Richard and Beuermann, Diether Wolfgang and Revilla, Carla, The Building Process of Property Rights: The Case of Urban Squatters in Peru (December 2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=965233 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.965233

Richard Webb (Contact Author)

University of San Martín de Porres - Economic Research Center ( email )

University Campus Av.
Lima
Peru

Diether Wolfgang Beuermann

University of Maryland - College Park ( email )

College Park, MD 20742
United States
240-838-9376 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.umd.edu/~beuermann

Durham Business School ( email )

Mill Hill Lane
Durham, Durham DH1 3LB
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.dur.ac.uk/dbs

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) ( email )

1300 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20577
United States
202-623-2172 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.iadb.org

Universidad de Lima - Facultad de Economia ( email )

Av. Javier Prado Este s/n
Lima, Lima 33
Peru

HOME PAGE: http://www.ulima.edu.pe

Carla Revilla

Center for Economics Research - Universidad San Martin de Porres ( email )

Av. Las Calandrias s/n
Santa Anita
Lima, Lima
Peru

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