CREATION OF LAND MARKETS IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INSTITUTIONS OF LAND ADMINISTRATION

This paper describes (1) the processes of privatization of land management in selected transition countries and (2) the post-privatization changes in land administration institutions which are being crafted to establish land markets. It begins with the proposition that there are similar land market institutional problems which most "transition" countries are facing, due largely to common experiences in creating command economies during the past 50-80 years and the almost simultaneous decisions of these countries to move toward market political economies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Each country has had unique historical experiences, but this paper proposes that there is enough similar institutional history among the transition countries to venture into comparative analysis. In this regard, the Albanian experience with land market institutional development is presented as being potentially relevant to experiences in other transition countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union. The broad question is: How can countries construct the institutions of immovable property markets once they have made the political-economic decision to "go market"?Land use--Government policy--Europe, Eastern, Land use--Economic aspects--Europe, Eastern, Land tenure--Government policy--Europe, Eastern, Land administration--Europe, Eastern, Land administration--Albania, Land markets--Europe, Eastern, Land markets--Albania, Privatization--Europe, Eastern, Post-communism, Land Economics/Use,

IMMOVABLE PROPERTY MARKETS IN METROPOLITAN TIRANA, ALBANIA

This paper uses information from three empirical studies to describe, after seven years of privatization and real estate market transactions, how the physical space of the city of Tirana is presently organized, and how active real estate markets have been. The first empirical study, fielded in December 1997 (completed in January 1998), was based on an "area sample" of the city of Tirana. One-hectare grid squares were overlaid on the city's 3,060 hectares within the municipal boundary, and a random sample was taken of these grids. Eighteen grid squares within the ring roads (an area of 340 hectares) and 14 grid squares between the ring roads and the outer municipal boundary (an area of 2,720 hectares) were randomly selected. Within the selected grid squares of 1 hectare each, research teams visited each property and questioned the holders about its use, who owned it, when it was constructed, and other characteristics of the property. The sample values obtained from the questionnaires were then "expanded" by the sampling ratio to describe the physical space of Tirana within the city's municipal boundaries. The second study of the transactions recorded in the Hipoteka Office of Tirana was done in early 1998. All documents from 1993 through 1997 were classified according to type of property involved, and the number of transactions were tabulated. The third study of real estate prices from 1993 to 1997 was done based on the data of one real estate agency in February 1998. This database represents approximately 70 percent of all offerings of real estate for sale done through real estate agencies in Tirana.Real property--Prices--Albania--Tirana, Land use, Urban--Albania--Tirana, Land titles--Registration and transfer--Albania--Tirana, Real estate development--Albania--Tirana, Land markets--Albania--Tirana, Land tenure, Urban--Albania--Tirana, Land Economics/Use,

ALBANIAN LAND MARKET ACTION PLAN: PURPOSES, ACHIEVEMENTS, LESSONS

The transition in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States from command to market-oriented economies requires new land market institutions and policies. Once privatization of land has moved far enough to permit and stimulate demand for market transactions, the question becomes one of establishing dynamic land markets (i.e., a growing volume of transactions) that also "work properly." Concerning the transition in the ownership and management of real property and the resultant efforts to create new land market institutions, the experience of Albania is instructive, and this paper outlines the establishment of an Albanian land market strategy. In the discussion of a market-oriented economy in Albania, the question was how to create the land market component of the transition following privatization of land. Four market characteristics were identified as goals: (1) the land market should be dynamic, that is, there should be numerous transactions; (2) acquisition of land through these transactions should be by people who make productive investments; (3) all sectors of the population should participate in the market as buyers and sellers of land rights; and (4) people's investments in land through these market transactions should result in sustainable uses of land so as to assure the environmental rights of future generations. This paper presents the effort to address these goals through the Land Market Action Plan, prepared by Albanian government with the assistance of the Land Tenure Center.Land titles--Registration and transfer--Albania, Land use--Government policy--Albania, Institution building --Albania--Evaluation, Technical assistance--Albania--Evaluation, Land administration--Albania, Project appraisal--Albania, Land markets--Albania, Land Economics/Use,

INSECURITY OF LAND TENURE IN NICARAGUA

The objective of this paper is to describe priority actions for reducing the legal insecurity of tenure to land in Nicaragua. To achieve this end, the study explores (1) the meaning and origins of tenure insecurity as well as the implications of tenure insecurity for the development of the country; (2) the extent of different types of tenure insecurity; (3) the options presently being explored for dealing with the problem in Nicaragua; and (4) recommendations for action.Land Economics/Use,

Land Tenure and the Management of Land Resources in Trinidad and Tobago

The potential of the agricultural sector in Trinidad and Tobago has not been realized in recent decades. The more productive land resources of the country are underutilized, while many of the more fragile ecosystems are in danger. This threatens to deny the country potential income from ecotourism as well as deprive future generations of a stable land, forest, and water base. The optimal use of the country's land resources requires a stable and secure tenure system defining land rights. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago contracted the Land Tenure Center to carry out land rationalization studies, which are intended to assist in the preparation of an action plan to deal with the problems of the land tenure system. The result was the preparation of twenty-one studies, which have been organized into two LTC research papers. This first paper explores the nature and extent of tenure insecurities in both urban and rural contexts, with a focus on agricultural land tenure problems. Several hypotheses are advanced concerning the possible constraints that legal and social insecurity of tenure pose for the future development of the country. Also explored are the environmental problems that past tenure regimes have helped generate, and what might comprise a strategy for protecting fragile ecosystems. A second paper (LTC Research Paper 116) will dig more deeply into the institutional and historical roots of the tenure insecurity problems. A final report presented to the government in August 1992 described a Land Rationalization and Development Programme, which was derived from the twenty-one studies carried out by LTC.Land Economics/Use,

Paternal and maternal influences on differences in birth weight between Europeans and Indians born in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Ethnic groups differ significantly in adult physique and birth weight. We aimed to improve understanding of maternal versus paternal contributions to ethnic differences in birth weight, by comparing the offspring of same-ethnic versus mixed-ethnic unions amongst Europeans and South Asian Indians in the UK. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used data from the UK Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (CWH), London. In the combined sample at all gestational ages, average birth weight of offspring with two European parents was significantly greater than that of offspring with two Indian parents [Δ = 344 (95% CI 329, 360) g]. Compared to offspring of European mothers, the offspring of Indian mothers had lower birth weight, whether the father was European [Δ = -152 (95% CI -92, -212) g] or Indian [Δ = -254 (95% -315, -192) g]. After adjustment for various confounding factors, average birth weight of offspring with European father and Indian mother was greater than that of offspring with two Indian parents [LS: Δ = 249 (95% CI 143, 354) g; CWH: Δ = 236 (95% CI 62, 411) g]. Average birth weight of offspring with Indian father and European mother was significantly less than that of offspring with two European parents [LS: Δ = -117 (95% CI -207, -26) g; CWH: Δ = -83 (-206, 40) g]. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Birth weight of offspring with mixed-ethnic parentage was intermediate between that of offspring with two European or two Indian parents, demonstrating a paternal as well as a maternal contribution to ethnic differences in fetal growth. This can be interpreted as demonstrating paternal modulation of maternal investment in offspring. We suggest long-term nutritional experience over generations may drive such ethnic differences through parental co-adaptation

Comparison of Antibody Repertoires Produced by HIV-1 Infection, Other Chronic and Acute Infections, and Systemic Autoimmune Disease

Background Antibodies (Abs) produced during HIV-1 infection rarely neutralize a broad range of viral isolates; only eight broadly-neutralizing (bNt) monoclonal (M)Abs have been isolated. Yet, to be effective, an HIV-1 vaccine may have to elicit the essential features of these MAbs. The V genes of all of these bNt MAbs are highly somatically mutated, and the VH genes of five of them encode a long (≥20 aa) third complementarity-determining region (CDR-H3). This led us to question whether long CDR-H3s and high levels of somatic mutation (SM) are a preferred feature of anti-HIV bNt MAbs, or if other adaptive immune responses elicit them in general. Methodology and Principal Findings We assembled a VH-gene sequence database from over 700 human MAbs of known antigen specificity isolated from chronic (viral) infections (ChI), acute (bacterial and viral) infections (AcI), and systemic autoimmune diseases (SAD), and compared their CDR-H3 length, number of SMs and germline VH-gene usage. We found that anti-HIV Abs, regardless of their neutralization breadth, tended to have long CDR-H3s and high numbers of SMs. However, these features were also common among Abs associated with other chronic viral infections. In contrast, Abs from acute viral infections (but not bacterial infections) tended to have relatively short CDR-H3s and a low number of SMs, whereas SAD Abs were generally intermediate in CDR-H3 length and number of SMs. Analysis of VH gene usage showed that ChI Abs also tended to favor distal germline VH-genes (particularly VH1-69), especially in Abs bearing long CDR-H3s. Conclusions and Significance The striking difference between the Abs produced during chronic vs. acute viral infection suggests that Abs bearing long CDR-H3s, high levels of SM and VH1-69 gene usage may be preferentially selected during persistent infection