Redesigning access to land to increase efficiency and reduce poverty is back on the policy agenda. This book broadens the analysis of alternative options beyond state-led redistributions to consider channels of access such as inheritance and inter-vivos transfers, intra-household and intra-community land allocations, community titling of open access resources, the break up of common property resources and the individualization of rights, decollectivization, land markets, and land rental contracts. Each of these channels of access to land is analyzed, and recommendations made to enhance their...

Despite the recent economic upswing in many Latin American countries, rural poverty rates in the region have actually increased during the past two decades. Experts blame excessively centralized public administrations for the lackluster performance of public policy initiatives. In response, decentralization reforms have become a common government strategy for improving public sector performance in rural areas. The effect of these reforms is a topic of considerable debate among government officials, policy scholars, and citizens groups. This book offers a systematic analysis of how local...