Tenure security and productivity in small‐scale agriculture in Zimbabwe: Implications for South Africa

This article tests empirically the interaction between land tenure security and agricultural productivity in small‐scale agriculture in Zimbabwe. Data for the analysis were gathered during April and August of 1995 by means of an interview survey of farmers in the small‐scale commercial sector, communal area and Model A resettlement area of Zimbabwe. Two‐stage least squares regression estimates reveal that land tenure security has a positive and significant influence on investment incentives and agricultural productivity in the sample. This result has two important implications for proposed land reforms in South .. Africa. Firstly, the result lends support to the notion that indigenous tenure institutions in communal areas of South Africa are a constraint on agricultural development. Secondly, it is clear that a national land redistribution policy must be accompanied by innovative tenure institutions which facilitate economic interaction and internalise externalities on land resettled by individuals and groups. This is particularly important in South Africa where groups of up to 300 families are being settled on commercial farms under a group ownership model.     

Place,belonging and population displacement: new ecological reserves in Mozambique and South Africa

This paper investigates the effect the proclamation of conserved areas in southern Africa may have on the ability of inhabitants in these areas to retain control of ancestral territory and to access long-standing livelihood options in the future. In particular, it examines how two national parks (in South Africa and Mozambique) effect a change in ownership and land use, and the resulting impact of such a change on local socio-cultural patterns of identity, or ‘place’. This is achieved by examining the dilemma confronting social and ecological scientists in planning these parks – where interventionist policies often deny customary tenure of land and thus prevent a thorough understanding of any historical claims to land prior to actual proclamation of the area. Accordingly, this paper argues for greater cooperation between social and ecological researchers in order to prevent the politicisation of national reserves and the intense opposition that has accompanied most instances of population displacement in the subcontinent.     

Ekaluka Farmers' Association and the Land Reform Programme: Expectations and success factors

The Land Reform Programme in South Africa aims to transfer 30% of white-owned commercial land to African owners before 2015. The Department of Land Affairs needs to ensure that land redistribution projects are viable and sustainable before approval. This article reports on a case study conducted in the Ermelo district of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, investigating the situation with regard to the Ekaluka Farmers' Association. The expectations, structure and composition, level of education and employment status of all 163 members of the Association were ascertained through structured interviews. The results indicate various factors that could prove valuable in the process of determining the potential success of this proposed land redistribution project.     

土地收益平等是农村土地公平的根基

我国农村土地集体所有,由农民分散承包经营,在一定程度上体现了土地的占有平等,实现了世代农民的梦想。但是,缘于城乡、地区之间主客观因素等的差异性,存在着事实上的土地收益起点、机会、标准的不平等,导致收益结果的不公平。要体现农村土地公平,就应当使土地均等占有,向土地收益平等转化,使耕种者能够获得平均利润。为此,应当提高农民的素质、利用土地所有权平衡贫富差距、善待城镇普通职工(农村务工者)等。     

Gendered Realities: Exploring Property Ownership and Tenancy Relationships in Urban India

Gender is emerging as a central analytical construct in exploring landed property ownership and tenancy relationships in India. This article explores the nature of land tenure and landed property rights in slums in India from a gender perspective. The author raises key issues that need consideration in developing a gendered vision of urban land rights, tenure, and reform by documenting some of the central findings of her field research conducted in slums in Ahmedabad, India, in collaboration with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). In each case, the author also draws out policy recommendations for redressing discrepancies in women’s ownership of urban land and housing.     

Limited access to services for the urban poor in Windhoek,Namibia

The majority of the population living in the informal settlements of Windhoek, Namibia, have limited access to public municipal services. This paper integrates results from a sample of 97 randomly selected households, interviews with experts and community leaders and review of literature to describe and analyse the relationship between land tenure and municipal services in the informal settlements. Findings from our study show that formalised land tenure is a condition for households to access municipal services privately. However, 85% of the sample of the households in the informal settlements do not own land under current land tenure policy. Further, the need for communities ‘to own land’ seemed more immediate and pressing compared to water access, which is seen as a way to govern themselves towards raising funds for land acquisition. But lack of land ownership remains a constraint.     

A historical irony in the making? State,private sector and land reform in the South African wine industry

This article traces the development of the land distribution policy of the Department of Land Affairs (DLA) of South Africa. Despite the DLA ‘s political commitment to land reform by way of restitution, redistribution and tenure reform, to date no small‐scale wine farmers have been settled in South Africa by virtue of this policy. Three case studies describe how agricultural labourers have successfully gained access to this lucrative sector through private sector intervention. It is also argued that the small farm versus large farm debate masks the real opportunities for land reform in the wine industry.     

完善我国农村土地产权制度的几点思考

农村土地产权制度作为农村土地制度的核心,其完善与否直接关系到农村土地资源和农业生产要素的合理配置。由于法律规定的不合理、行政权的滥用和理论上的匮乏,我国现行的农村土地产权制度不合理。建议明确界定农村土地所有权主体范围,赋予农村土地所有者法人资格;规范农村土地产权的界区,建立合理的土地产权结构;明确土地承包合同的性质;健全土地流转机制,以完善农村土地产权制度。     

Income inequality and subjective wellbeing: Panel data evidence from China

Using four waves of longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we examine the effects of income inequality on subjective wellbeing (SWB). We take a dual approach in measuring income inequality, and thus, we examine the effects of inequality using province-level Gini coefficient as well as between-group inequality or identity-related inequality defined as the income gap between migrants without urban household registration identity (hukou) and urban residents. We find negative effects of both province-level income inequality and between-group income inequality on SWB, measured by life satisfaction. Our results also show that the effects of income inequality on SWB is stronger for rural hukou residents compared to urban hukou residents. These findings are robust to alternative ways of measuring SWB and income inequality. In addition, we find evidence suggesting that neighbourhood trust is an important channel through which income inequality operates to reduce SWB. We suggest policies that promote trust in communities with high inequality with a view of addressing the negative effects of inequality on SWB.     

Ownership and control of Maori land: Some lessons for South Africa

New Zealand replaced customary tenure of Maori land with titles. Some issues are relevant to South Africa. Massive redistribution of Maori land is accounted for by inadequate property rights conferred fay colonial legislation. Institutions emerged to deal with problems of landlessness and low farm incomes created by titling, among which private incorporations and trusts were particularly successful Such institutions may under certain conditions be useful to smallholders in the former homelands and to groups of farmers who acquire freehold land in South Africa.     

我国应确立农村土地的国家所有权制度

我国现行农村土地集体所有权制度存在一些缺陷,针对这些缺陷学者们提出了多种改革方案,其中国家所有农民永久使用的农村土地制度既能保持公有制,又能避免集体所有制的种种弊端,是各种改革方案中最佳的一种。土地国有化的方式总的来说是自然转化即在集体虚置的情况下,国家自然而然地接替这个虚置的主体成为农村土地所有权的主体,无须向农民购买土地。     

Norway's Interwar Tanker Expansion – A Reappraisal

Abstract

This paper studies the ownership structure in the Finnish print media business in the 20^th century. It pays particular attention to the extent of family ownership in this branch, to the strategies of the owning families in order to keep control of their firms and to how the owners managed professionalisation. Finally, it asks whether media companies have had other goals (e.g. political, cultural, public service) beside pure economic ones and whether such goals have been connected to family ownership. This study shows that family ownership has been a persistent feature also in the largest Finnish media companies, although the ownership structure has undergone some transformations. For example, cultural foundations have become important owners in this branch. The owning families have also been active in top management until today. Family ownership and the cultural foundations appear to have been significant for preserving cultural goals, but, on the other hand, have to some extent restricted expansion, internationalisation and diversification. One important factor influencing the Finnish media business has been the bilingualism of the country, which is dealt with in detail.     

Does Security of Land Operational Rights Matter for the Improvement of Agricultural Production Efficiency under the Collective Ownership in China?

Under the “separation of three rights” policy, the impact of security of land operational rights on agricultural production efficiency has attracted much attention in recent years. Data envelopment analysis and mediation effect analysis were applied to 888 family farms run by new‐type agricultural operators from Songjiang to identify the mechanism of the effect of land operational rights security on agricultural production efficiency through long‐term investment. The results show that greater security of land operational rights generally increased agricultural production efficiency. Approximately 37.94 percent of the impact could be explained by long‐term investment. The results also indicate that significant heterogeneity exists in the effect of land operational rights security on agricultural production efficiency at various levels of the family farms’ efficiency distributions. It is suggested that government should legalize land operational rights and give them a status equal to those of households’ contractual rights and land ownership rights in China's future land tenure reform.     

Economic incentives in the subsistence areas of South Africa and the need for reform

While land tenure reform within the subsistence areas of South Africa will not address fundamental black grievances about land inequality, it is essential that the land in these areas, as well as other agricultural land used for resettlement, be used in a productive and sustainable manner. This article examines the way in which discriminatory policies with respect to land distribution and public support, together with the high level of transaction costs under existing black tenure systems, have structured economic incentives within the subsistence areas, leading to the apparent under‐ and over‐utilization of arable and grazing land respectively. The potential for formal private tenure to reduce these constraints is then explored, while noting the necessity for property institutions to be both impartially administered and well adapted to the particular needs and resource constraints at the community level. Finally, a number of reforms which would increase the level of information provided by informal tenure are examined.     

Contested land tenure reform in South Africa: experiences from Namaqualand

In South Africa the distribution of land rights remains a major manifestation and cause of injustice, only slowly affected by the constitutionally mandated programme of land restitution, redistribution and tenure reform. The Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act 94, 1998 (Trancraa) is the first post-apartheid legislation to reform ‘communal’ land tenure. It applies to 23 former ‘coloured rural areas’ and was introduced in six areas in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape Province during 2001–2. In a different, contested process a Communal Land Rights Bill for the former ‘homelands’ was published in August 2002, adopted by Cabinet in 2003 and signed into law in July 2004. While the Communal Land Rights Act relies on ‘traditional councils’ with a majority of non-elected members, Trancraa was enacted in the context of the 1997 White Paper of South African Land Policy and focused on community choice and the role of municipalities. The consultative process in Namaqualand was driven by civil society organisations and community actors, but did not include the training, finance and development support needed to transform rural relations among people affected by unemployment, land scarcity and weak local organisations. To promote procedural and substantive justice, tenure reform must honour the human rights of equality, redress and land development support articulated in land policy and the Constitution.     

Land Reform and Farm Production in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam*

Economic theory suggests that increased tenure security will lead to increased productivity. However, existing literature on the relationship between land tenure and land productivity provides inconclusive evidence. The present paper analyzes the impact of land reform on chemical fertilizer use and land productivity of rural farms in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam using a panel dataset collected before and after land reform. The results show that land reform has positive effects on both chemical fertilizer use and land productivity, but the level of influence is different between land privatization and land titling. Relevant policy implications are thus derived for the promotion of farm production in the region.     

Land reform: Lessons for South Africa from the Republic of China on Taiwan

Before the implementation of land reform in 1949, the skewed distribution of land ownership and the unhealthy tenancy system in the Republic of China on Taiwan was of great concern to the Kuomitang Nationalist government. Apart from hindering economic development, it also threatened the social and political stability of the island. Taiwan is today regarded as one of the newly industrialized countries. Its remarkable economic achievements are to a large extent closely linked to the successful execution of a land reform programme. Faced with similar problems of an unhealthy distribution of land ownership, policy makers and those who have influence on policy in South Africa can learn a great deal from the Chinese experience.     

Agricultural reconstruction in a consumer society: The Mboza Village project 1

While this paper draws upon research conducted in northern Natal, it has general relevance for rural development debates in South Africa today. The authors argue that it is imperative that agricultural development be located within the context of socio‐economic factors that prescribe relations of consumption and development of labour supply. Agricultural performance and the potential for agricultural development should be assessed within the context of the interrelationship between different spheres of economic exchange as well as the differential management of risk within a narrow range of marginal economic options. Serious attention should be given to the structural causes of rural poverty and the high social and economic costs associated with rural life in South Africa. Such issues are not necessarily addressed in attempts to increase rural productivity through reforming indigenous land tenure systems.     

Does Homeownership Lead to Longer Unemployment Spells? The Role of Mortgage Payments

This paper examines the impact of housing tenure choice on unemployment duration in Belgium using EU-SILC micro data. We contribute to the literature in distinguishing homeowners with mortgage payments and outright homeowners. Accounting for tenure endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity, we find that homeowners with a mortgage exit unemployment first, while outright owners stay unemployed the longest. Tenants take an intermediate position. Our results emphasize the key role of housing costs in the link between housing tenure and labour market outcomes. Considered together with the results of recent macroeconomic research on housing and employment in Belgium, this paper provides indirect evidence for significant negative effects of homeownership on the labour market and the economy beyond the owners themselves.     

对员工主观幸福感形成机制模型的系统分析

员工主观幸福感是当前人力资源管理领域的一个热门课题,它通过影响员工的满意度而影响组织绩效。文章通过构建员工主观幸福感的系统模型,分析了组织承诺、心理所有权、全面薪酬以及工作安全保障四因素与员工主观幸福感之间的关系,并指出了在具体实践中的难点和进一步研究的方向。