Legal Knowledge and Economic Development: The Case of Land Rights in Uganda

Mixed evidence on the impact of formal title in much of Africa is often used to question the relevance of dealing with land policy issues in this continent. We use data from Uganda to assess the impact of a disaggregated set of rights on investment, productivity, and land values and to test the hypothesis that individuals' lack of knowledge of the new law reduces their tenure security. Results point towards strong and positive effects of greater tenure security and transferability. Use of exogenous knowledge of its provisions as a proxy for the value of the land law suggests that this piece of legislation had major economic benefits that remain to be fully realized.International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use,

Land Rental in Ethiopia: Marshallian Inefficiency or Factor Market Imperfections and Tenure Insecurity as Binding Constraints?

Although a large theoretical literature discusses the possible inefficiency of sharecropping contracts, empirical evidence on this phenomenon has been ambiguous at best. Household level fixed-effect estimates from about 8,500 plots operated by households who own and sharecrop land in the Ethiopian highlands provide support for the hypothesis of Marshallian inefficiency. At the same time, a factor adjustment model suggests that the extent to which rental markets allow households to attain their desired operational holding size is extremely limited. Our analysis points towards factor market imperfections (no rental for oxen), lack of alternative employment opportunities, and tenure insecurity as possible reasons underlying such behavior, suggesting that, rather than worrying almost exclusively about Marshallian inefficiency, it is equally warranted to give due attention to the policy framework within which land rental markets operate.Land Economics/Use,

Legal knowledge and economic development: The case of land rights in Uganda

Mixed evidence on the impact of formal title in much of Africa is often used to question the relevance of dealing with land policy issues in this continent. We use data from Uganda to assess the impact of a disaggregated set of rights on investment, productivity, and land values and to test the hypothesis that individuals' lack of knowledge of the new law reduces their tenure security. Results point towards strong and positive effects of greater tenure security and transferability. Use of exogenous knowledge of its provisions as a proxy for the value of the land law suggests that this piece of legislation had major economic benefits that remain to be fully realized.Land Economics/Use,

Economics of animal genetic resources use and conservation

Economic analysis can play an important role in the sustainable management of animal genetic resources (AnGR). The first report on The State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (first SoW-AnGR) (FAO, 2007a) included a section on methods for economic evaluation 1 that provided an overview of the various types of value that can be distinguished (direct and indirect use values, option values, bequest values and existence values) and described potential methods and tools for assessing them. It also presented some examples of the use of these methods and tools and the findings obtained. This updated section provides an overview of recent developments in the economics of AnGR use and conservation. The revised title reflects the way in which this field of work has moved beyond just the development and testing of methods

Do Academics Share Knowledge? Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions in Perspective

This study examines the knowledge sharing practices of academics in Higher Education Institutions(HEI) in Ethiopia. Based on the understanding that Knowledge Sharing is a key enabler of Knowledge Management, the study analyses how individual based variables determine knowledge sharing practices. The major relevant variables are drawn from the Theory of Planned Behavior. A survey instrument that has employed the conceptual framework was developed mainly from the extant literature in order to collect data from faculty of selected HEIs in Ethiopia. A quantitative approach of study will be employed to analyze the data obtained from the survey. Apart from providing a holistic perspective on the KS behaviors of faculty, based on the TPB model, the study intends to produce a validated and reliable instrument to measure KS