This paper develops a framework and some
hypotheses regarding the impact of local-level, informal
legal institutions on three economic outcomes: aggregate
growth, inequality, and human capabilities. It presents a
set of stylized differences between formal and informal
legal justice systems, identifies the pathways through which
formal systems promote economic outcomes, reflects on what
the stylized differences mean for the potential impact of

Son preference is known to be found in
certain types of cultures, that is patrilineal cultures. But
what explains the fact that China, South Korea, and
Northwest India manifest such extreme child sex ratios
compared with other patrilineal societies? This paper argues
that what makes these societies unique is that their
pre-modern political and administrative systems used
patrilineages to organize and administer their citizens. The

Everyone has a relationship to land. It is an asset that, with its associated resources, allows its owner access to loans, to build their houses and to set up small businesses in cities. In rural areas, land is essential for livelihoods, subsistence and food security. However, land is a scarce resource governed by a wide range of rights and responsibilities. And not everyone’s right to land is secure. Mounting pressure and competition mean that improving land governance - the rules, processes and organizations through which decisions are made about land - is more urgent than ever.

Women, business and the law focuses on this critical piece of the puzzle, objectively highlighting differentiations on the basis of gender in 141 economies around the world, covering six areas: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building credit and going to court. Women, business and the law describes regional trends and shows how economies are changing across these six areas, tracking governments' actions to expand economic opportunities for women.

The objective is to record current living customary law and ways in which it is moving in progressive directions so that this information can be used towards justice, as evidence in court cases, and in policy development and political engagement from local to national levels.

Women in many African countries have a legal right to
own land, but this often means little in areas where
“customary law” prevails. As a result, researchers in two
countries have come to believe that women’s security
of tenure depends as much on addressing social
assumptions as on enacting legal reforms.

The project report summarizes women’s lived-experiences with regard to land reform issues. The research aimed to generate knowledge about the linkages between access, rights, and security, and barriers to land access faced by women beneficiaries of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe. It analysed the allocating processes and authorities, as well as resettlement patterns under the programme, including details of the resettlement model, land size, and date of access to the land.

Land distribution is highly skewed in Africa, where women’s ownership of land is a small percentage of that owned by men. Women frequently lack the resources to acquire land in their own right and are further disadvantaged by discriminatory inheritance laws, customary practices and market structures. This report summarizes presentations at the symposium on women’s rights and access to land.

We present a report on the results of a 10-month pilot project conducted in North- Western Rwanda that aimed to explore fruitful ways to engage with customary law in order to empower rural communities and rural women in particular. The focus is on the effectiveness of land dispute resolution at the community level and the respect for women’s formally guaranteed land rights by the institutions involved.

La sécurité de la tenure est une condition essentielle à la gestion durable des forêts. La diversification des systèmes de tenure pourrait servir de base à l’amélioration de l’aménagement forestier et des moyens d’existence locaux, en particulier là où l’Etat ne dispose pas des moyens suffisants pour gérer les forêts. Au cours de la dernière décennie, de nombreux pays ont entamé des efforts de réforme de leurs systèmes de tenure forestière, en déléguant certains droits d’accès et de gestion aux ménages, aux sociétés privées et aux communautés.

Selon leur définition par les États Membres de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO), les objectifs fondamentaux de l’Organisation sont «d’améliorer les niveaux de nutrition, la productivité agricole et la qualité de vie des populations rurales et contribuer à l’essor de l’économie mondiale.» En tant qu’organisme spécialisé des Nations Unies, la FAO a un rôle essentiel à jouer pour la promotion d’une plus grande sécurité alimentaire et la réduction de la pauvreté.

La seguridad de la tenencia es un requisito previo importante para la gesti?n forestal sostenible. La diversificaci?n de los sistemas de tenencia podr?a proporcionar una base para mejorar la gesti?n de los boques y los medios de vida locales, especialmente cuando la capacidad de gesti?n forestal del Estado no es suficiente.