Law, Endowments, and Property Rights / Ross Levine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levine, Ross.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w11502.

NBER working paper series no. w11502

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2005.

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2005.