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Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

Law, Endowments and Property Rights

  • Ross Levine
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 19, no. 3, Summer 2005
(pp. 61–88)
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Abstract

While scholars have hypothesized about the sources of variation in property rights for over 2500 years, it is only very recently that researchers have begun to test these theories empirically. This paper reviews both the theory and empirical evidence supporting and refuting the law and endowment views of property rights. The law view holds that historically determined differences in national legal traditions continue to shape cross-country differences in property rights. The endowment view argues that during European colonization, differences in climate, crops, the indigenous population, and the disease environment influenced long-run property rights.

Citation

Levine, Ross. 2005. "Law, Endowments and Property Rights." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19 (3): 61–88. DOI: 10.1257/089533005774357842

JEL Classification

  • K11 Property Law
  • P14 Capitalist Systems: Property Rights
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