Private and communal lands? The ramifications of ambiguous resource tenure and regional integration in Northern Bolivia

Abstract

Abstract:Major integration initiatives such as large-scale infrastructure projects are moving forward in Latin America, creating the conditions theorized by the 'evolutionary theory of land rights' (ETLR) for the shift from communal to private individual tenure. This however assumes a clear distinction between communal and private individual tenure that avoids ambiguities such as those arising from contrasts between de jure tenure rights and de facto practices. We take up these issues by focusing on northern Bolivia, an ambiguous case because groups of families with individual land claims recently received communal titles as 'independent communities'. This has occurred in areas near a major market 180Stephen Perz et al.integration initiative, the Inter-Oceanic Highway, which has recently been paved. We draw on a survey of households in putatively communal lands in northern Bolivia to evaluate the claims of the ETLR concerning regional integration and formalization of private claims and its consequences. We find evidence of practices consistent with private individual tenure, but they are not related to market integration. Further, indications of formalization of private individual rights do not lead to the outcomes anticipated by the ETLR. These findings call for additional comparative work on integration and tenure.

Understanding the adoption of sustainable silvopastoral practices in Northern Argentina: What is the role of land tenure?

“…Economic theory sometimes assumes that land tenure security would result in increased investments in land (see e.g. Hayes et al 1997, Brasselle et al 2002; it is sometimes described as having the potential to reduce resource degradation (Landportal, 2019;Perz et al, 2014). However, our interview data as well as preliminary discussions indicate that the direction of causality might not be so clear.…”

Ideal type theories and concrete cases in land science: A multi-step appraisal of the evolutionary theory of land rights in Madre de Dios, Peru

“…For land we consider hectares claimed (in both agricultural properties and forest concessions); for labor, we account for household composition (labor availability via the number of adults, and dependency via the number of children and elderly); for cultural capital we include region of birth (Madre de Dios or elsewhere in Peru, to reflect distinct regional identities) and time on the first agricultural property (in years); for human capital, we account for place of birth (rural or urban) and respondent education (years of school completed); and for social capital we consider absent family members (who reside in towns) and the number of types of organizational memberships. More details on these control variables are available elsewhere (Perz, et al 2014b). Per the ETLR, households with greater assets will invest more in formalization in order to secure their assets and thereby make them more productive.…”

“…In later steps of the analysis, we incorporated dependent variables from earlier models as additional controls (cf. Perz, et al 2014b). Hence we model credit, and later use credit to model resource management.…”

“…We therefore organize our analysis in three steps, shown in Figure 2 (cf. Perz, et al 2014b). The first step concerns the linkage of regional integration (via highway paving) with tenure formalization.…”

Res Nullius vs. Res Communis in Matters of Communal Lands of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia

“…Perz et al argue that even if formalization proceeds via titling, the task of titling by itself may not be sufficient to ensure tenure security. 108 According to Elisabeth Wickeri and Anil Kalhan "[t]enure security in land or secure usage rights in land, in the form of formal legal, customary or religious rights, can provide more predictability and secure access to fundamental rights, including to food, housing, water, and health". 109 Thus, the issue as to how and in whose name communal lands could be registered needs to be addressed.…”