The Virtuous Cycle of Property

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fabbri, Marco; Dari-Mattiacci, Giuseppe
• 署名单位: Pompeu Fabra University; Barcelona School of Economics; Columbia University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00905
• 发表日期: 2021-07
• 页码: 413-427
• 关键词: social preferences; dictator game; RIGHTS; institutions; PUNISHMENT; ECONOMICS; NORMS; BEHAVIOR; CONFLICT; fairness

摘要

This paper shows that formalizing private property rights has a positive effect on the propensity to respect the property of others. We study a recent large-scale land tenure reform in West Africa that was the first of its kind to be implemented as a randomized control trial. Results of a modified dictator game show that the formalization of private property rights reduced an individual's willingness to take from others' endowment. We used additional experimental measures and postexperimental survey data to rule out alternative explanations for the observed behavior that do not imply a change in preferences.