Brief paper on the role of property rights in the economic analysis of environmental problems in Southeast Asia. First talks about the causal role of property rights in the existence of environmental problems, then how property rights must be incorporated into the economic analyses of these problems. Finally, addresses the extent to which changes in property regimes may offer scope for solving persistent environmental problems.

Sharp inequalities in the distribution of land remains a major cause of extreme poverty in many developing countries. Some instances are the result of ownership patterns inherited from colonial administrations, others are linked to the struggle for economic prosperity in the post-independence era.Landlessness is therefore a significant problem for the rural poor. Most remedies that have been undertaken previously have not yielded positive results, as can be witnessed in Southern Africa today.

Growing populations and economic change resulting from globalisation and climate change are increasing pressure on land, particularly in urbanising countries. This exposes many of those occupying and using land, particularly the poor and women, to risks resulting from tenure insecurity. Customary practices in land management are giving way to market-based statutory systems of land tenure.

This study investigates the relationship between rural poverty, property rights, and environmental resource management in a semi-arid region of Kenya using analysis of survey data. It argues that reduced environmental degradation will increase agricultural productivity, and which will then translate into lower levels of poverty as incomes and consumption expenditures rise.

Land redistribution or the transfer of ownership rights to the tiller has been the focal point of the land reform program in the Philippines. This transfer was envisioned to result in a significant shift in income and productivity in the agrarian sector. While some equalisation of incomes may have indeed occurred, the full benefits of this asset transfer, however, have not been realised.

Indonesia’s forests have been disappearing rapidly since the 1980s: 1.8 million hectares per year are estimated to have been deforested between 1985 and 1997. Consequently, there is a possibility that in some areas, the forests will cease to function as a viable resource base in the near future.This paper examines the role of economic incentives in causing deforestation, focussing on policies that distort prices and create the conditions for unsustainable harvesting.

Today, many rural poor Filipinos are using state law to try to claim land rights. In spite of the availability of a much stronger set of legal resources than ever before, claiming legal land rights remains difficult. Some argue these difficulties are a reason to turn away from state-led land reform and toward a market-assisted land reform (MALR) model.

What are the effects of trends away from legal pluralism towards more uniform approaches to the law? This paper analyses the effects of legal changes in property rights for people's welfare and development in India.

The core thesis is that Western neoclassical economics and law (particularly Anglo-American) have a peculiar cultural history that biases Western-trained economists and lawyers against common property systems like those found among Africans and American Indians. This Western cultural bias is expressed through the recurrent focus on individuals as atomistic and independent of each other in contract and property law, as well as in economic theory.

Forty per cent of sub-Saharan Africa's population live on less than a dollar a day and more than seventy per cent are currently without adequate shelter, so what has property got to do with it? This paper attempts to highlight the need for Africa to develop the necessary institutions to support the property and construction sectors, to facilitate infrastructure delivery and promote sustainable growth and development.The authors highlight the fact that Africa, whilst being well endowed with natural resources their capital markets remain underdeveloped.

Housing occupies an important position in the Kenyan psyche along with the concept of home ownership. The residential developments and investments attract both institutional, corporate organisations as well as private individuals. There are indications that the residential market in Nairobi is very active and that most of the valuation firms in Nairobi cany out market-based valuation of residential properties.

The cost of buying land and homes is set to rise significantly as the market factors in new valuation charges that have more than doubled for most asset classes.

Lands minister James Orengo introduced the new charges through an amendment to the forms and fees section of the Valuers Act, paving the way for their application in the property market beginning this month.

Valuation fees for certain classes of land or homes have increased by up to 400 per cent, piling upward pressure on sale prices.