Cadastre and economic development

Abstract

Why are some countries economically much more successful than others? In search for empirically founded explanations, recent research investigates institutions in the sense of institutional economics, for example in terms of level of democracy, and of protection of property rights. The role of rights in land is so far only partly understood, due to the multifarious land tenure systems. The chapter provides a review and discussion of recent research on this issue. Economic development has been supported by the World Bank Group and national aid agencies, among others. Interestingly, in recent years an alternative to this development incentive evolved. This is due to the fact that investors in emerging markets have looked for a market based alternative to government bonds, the security of which depends on the country’s ability to collect taxes. An alternative is covered bonds, the security of which is backed by mortgages in title of real property. However, the success of this alternative depends on the availability of a well functioning land registration with cadastre, which motivates the title.