A synchronous growth slowdown has been
underway in emerging markets (EM) since 2010. Growth in
these countries is now markedly slower than, not just the
pre‐crisis average, but also the long‐term average. As a
group, EM growth eased from 7.6 percent in 2010 to 4.5
percent in 2014, and is projected to slow further to below 4
percent in 2015. This moderation has affected all regions
(except South Asia) and is the most severe in Latin America

Maps are instrumental in the commodification of land and its exchange in markets. The critical cartog- raphy literature emphasizes the ‘‘power of maps” to (re)define property relations through their descrip- tive and prescriptive attributes. But how do maps work to achieve these outcomes? This paper examines the notion of maps as ‘‘inscription devices” that turn land into a commodity that can be bought and sold by investors. It is based on the analysis of a land reform project in the Southern African country of Lesotho.

For decades, policymakers and development practitioners have debated benefits and threats of property rights formalization and private versus customary tenure systems. This paper provides insights into the challenges in understanding and empirically analyzing the relationship between tenure systems and agricultural investment, and formulates policy advice that can support land tenure interventions. We focus on Ghana, based on extensive qualitative fieldwork and a review of empirical research and policy documents.

"El presente trabajo surgió como una propuesta conjunta durante los encuentros propiciados por FAU- AL, donde se identificó por un lado, la deficiencia generalizada en cuanto a los mecanismos para la participación efectiva de las mujeres; y por otro lado, la necesidad de reconocer su papel fundamental en el impulso de consultas populares, comunitarias y autónomas y en la exigencia de la consulta previa, libre e informada, en el marco de la defensa de los territorios frente al extractivismo". (Pág. 6)

This paper investigates empirically the effect of land invasions on farm production decisions. The main hypothesis is that more invasions in a region are associated with lower investment, and in particular a bias towards annual crops as opposed to long‐term crops. We use a county‐level dataset for the state of Paraná, Brazil, from 2003 to 2007, with 1,995 observations. The panel data structure allows us to control for fixed effects, such as the formalisation of land titles and land concentration, which might be correlated with the intensity of invasions.

This article presents a model to help explain the transition path from one water management system to another, typically a commons framework to one of tradable permit‐based property rights. Furthermore, drawing from transaction cost literature, the model demonstrates how this takes place when externalities (the strain on water resources) become severe enough to warrant the increased transaction costs inherent with more complex water rights management frameworks.

In a widely read paper, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank and others propose systematic property rights formalization as a key step in addressing the problems of irresponsible agricultural investment. This paper examines the case of Cambodia, one of a number of countries where systematic land titling and large-scale land concessions have proceeded in parallel in recent years.

Property of law of the landed property completeness and organization of the agriculture reveals in an empery of the owner over the property; variety, completeness of objects of the real rights; will of the owner acting at discretion and in the interest; the wide set of its competences; the system of the real rights protection opportunities for the owner to protect the property rights in the most various ways and means, up to the application of the rei vindicatio and the negaterius claims, unilateral and bilateral restitution, indemnification.

A broad community of independent scientific researchers and scholars challenges recent claims of a consensus over the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In the following joint statement, the claimed consensus is shown to be an artificial construct that has been falsely perpetuated through diverse fora. Irrespective of contradictory evidence in the refereed literature, as documented below, the claim that there is now a consensus on the safety of GMOs continues to be widely and often uncritically aired.

This article studies the influence of local knowledge on the impact of science on institutional change in ecological and environmental management.

In many developing countries, people rely on natural resources for subsistence and cash income. The trade ban on species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List may be counter-productive, as increasing the rarity and thus price of these species acts as a stimulus to illegal markets rather than a deterrent. Since illegal markets cannot have legal property rights, there is no basis for any form of sustainable harvesting based on property rights.