Property Takings in Developed Versus Developing Countries: Economics, Politics, and the Limits of the Holdout Problem

Abstract

This essay compares government takings in the United States with takings in lesser-developed countries. Lopez argues that institutional differences account for important disparities in when and how government takings emerge and in the distributional effects these takings have on the rich and poor in the two contexts. Some differences that account for such disparities are the presence of the rule of law and ideologies that support takings under some circumstances but not others.

Keywords: property taking, institutional difference, holdout problem

JEL Classification: P50