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De jure property rights and state capacity: evidence from land specification in the Boer Republics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2021

Kara Dimitruk Open the ORCID record for Kara Dimitruk [Opens in a new window] ,
Sophia Du Plessis  and
Stan Du Plessis
Kara Dimitruk*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics & LEAP, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland7602, South Africa
Sophia Du Plessis
Affiliation:
Department of Economics & LEAP, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland7602, South Africa
Stan Du Plessis
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland7602, South Africa
*
*Corresponding author. Email: karadimitruk@gmail.com
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Abstract

We examine the development of de jure property rights to land by assessing how accurately governments recorded borders of property. We use surveys of farm parcels from two historical states, the Republic of the Orange Free State (OFS) and the South African Republic (ZAR), which are in modern-day South Africa, and employ a descriptive analysis to infer how accurately maps represent parcels of property. We argue that differences in state administrative capacity explains differences in map accuracy and therefore the provision of de jure property rights to land. We find that maps of farms in the ZAR, which had lower administrative capacity, tend to be less accurate than maps of farms in the OFS. Comparisons with military maps compiled under a different administration provide evidence that the costs incurred from previous administrations can limit future attempts to accurately record property. The analysis shows how state administrative capacity can facilitate (or hinder) the provision of property rights to land.

Keywords

Africafrontier economicsland demarcationproperty rightsstate capacity
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 17 , Issue 5 , October 2021 , pp. 764 - 780
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2021

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