The Neoliberalization of Municipal Land Policy in Sweden

In Sweden, local governments’ practice of the ‘municipal land instrument’—that is, the use of public land ownership as a tool for facilitating urban development—has a long tradition. In the post‐war era, public land ownership constituted an important component of state‐led housing production, which had both a productive and a redistributive purpose. Departing from a political economy perspective, this article demonstrates how the redistributive aspect of the municipal land instrument has been dissolved under neoliberalization, and discusses why the use of this instrument is problematic from both a democratic and ethical point of view. Based on a case study in Helsingborg, the article argues that, in using public land to leverage private investment in urban development, local decision makers adopt an interest in supporting rent extraction from tenants and housing owners, while subsidizing investment costs for developers. The dual role that municipalities assume as landowner‐developers and planning authorities enable them to facilitate urban development effectively, but it is also problematic because it transgresses the public–private law divide inherent to Swedish law. Assuming this dual role, municipalities place themselves in a biased position that risks undermining the legitimacy of governmental actions in general, and the planning system in particular.     

Henry George and the Catholic View of Morality and the Common Good, I

A bstract . On the issuance of the first of the modern social encyclicals, Rerum Novarum , Henry George, the American economist and social philosopher , criticized its author, Pope Leo XIII , for defending a limited right to own land and for limiting the right of private ownership of labor products. George did so by reasoning from Locke's ground that each human has a property right in one's person. George distinguished between possession (and use) and ownership of land on the ground of the common good. That required equality of mutual opportunity , which George would achieve by a Single Tax on all land values. Land reform , he held, would lead to moral reform , and thus to a society based on justice. Pope Leo goes beyond the Schoolmen in stressing a natural right to property, including land, which he asserted must be regarded as sacred. This right, he said, was not absolute, but subject to be used, according to God's Will, for the benefit of others. George looked to a change in the economic structure by reform of land tenure and use to establish a just social order ; Leo to religion and the church , the government, moral individuals and voluntary associations to do so.     

Law,Property and Ambiguity: The Uses and Abuses of Legal Ambiguity in Remaking Istanbul's Informal Settlements

What is the role of legal ambiguity in the creation and institutionalization of private property regimes? In what ways does the (ab)use of legal ambiguities affect market‐making processes? I address these questions through a detailed analysis of two large‐scale urban renewal projects in Istanbul that impose a formal private property regime on informal settlements. My research reveals that without the strategic utilization of legal ambiguities and administrative arbitrariness by public and private actors, private property cannot be easily created and hence capitalist markets cannot function efficiently. My findings challenge the assumptions of several social science traditions such as neoclassical and neoinstitutionalist economics, as well as most works within the law and economics tradition regarding the relationship between law, property and economic development. These approaches to economic development are underpinned by the legal certainty that private property entails as the most important element for an efficient economic order. However, in their unconditional support for private ownership, they fail to realize the degree of legal ambiguity and administrative arbitrariness needed to create the private property regime in the first place. As such their arguments remain theoretically and empirically incomplete. A more complete analysis of the relationship between law and economic dynamics must focus on how private property is constructed, and the extent to which legal ambiguities and loopholes are utilized in this process.     

唐宋至清末土地流转制度的正负效应分析

唐宋以后,我国封建社会相对完全自由的土地私有制度开始确立.国家在制度层面上不断明晰产权,使土地的所有权、使用权等进入市场,土地流转速率加快.土地流转制度一方面可以增进社会福利、优化资源配置、调节宏观经济,并能起到融通资金的作用;另一方面由于我国诸子均分的财产继承制度和其他历史因素的影响,土地流转制度使土地趋于零散化、分配平均化,形成了我国农业小规模经营和过密化生产方式,导致社会经济发展缓慢.     

Henry George's Land Reform: The Distinction between Private Ownership and Private Possession

Henry George stated that the taxation of land rent would amount to the abolition of the institution of private ownership of land, thereby alienating all those who, whether for economic or ideological reasons, regard the private ownership of land as essential for social order and progress. George believed that under his proposed reform the private ownership of land would be replaced by private possession. But his distinction between ownership and possession appears to have been based on a misconception of the nature of private ownership. His proposed reform could have been more logically described as a conditional, modified, or restricted private ownership of land, rather than as the abolition of private ownership of land.     

A Catholic Response to Henry George's Critique of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum

In Rerum Novarum, the first of the modern social encyclicals, Pope Leo XIII argued that there is a right to the possession of property, but there are limits on the use of wealth. Christians have an obligation to use their property and talents for the good of others. Private ownership must serve not only the interests of the individual but also the public welfare. The disadvantages of private ownership are not to be corrected by socialism, communism, or the free market, but by the teaching of the Church on faith and morals, the laws of the State, and the action of private associations. Efforts to solve the problems of poverty and unjust working conditions will be in vain unless principles of Christian living drawn from the Gospel are taught to people in all ranks of society.     

Informal Housing in the United States

Research on informal housing tends to focus overwhelmingly on less developed countries, downplaying or ignoring entirely the presence of informality in United States housing markets. In actuality, a longstanding and widespread tradition of informal housing exists in the United States but is typically disregarded by scholars. In this article we draw on three definitions of informality—as non‐compliant, non‐enforced, or deregulated economic activity—to characterize examples of informality in US housing markets, focusing in particular on five institutions that govern housing market activity in this country: property rights law, property transfer law, land‐use and zoning, subdivision regulations, and building codes. The cases presented here challenge the notion that informality is absent from US housing markets and highlight the unique nature of informal housing, US style—namely, that informal housing in the US is geographically uneven, largely hidden and typically interwoven within formal markets. We conclude with a discussion of how research on informal housing in the US can inform research in the global South.     

我国农村集体土地所有权的演变

农村集体土地所有权是农民土地财产权利的重要组成部分。农村集体土地所有权的演变,经过了从农民私有权向集体所有权发展两个阶段。农村集体土地所有权的演变与发展,客观反映了我国国家的政治稳定与经济发展之间的关系,科学认识集体土地所有权演变历史,对完善农村土地权利体系,推进我国土地制度改革,具有积极意义。     

Evolving corporate governance and firms performance: evidence from Japanese firms

This study is an attempt to investigate the implications of the ownership structure and control transfers in the Japanese corporate market, which are attributed mainly to the government’s liberalization policies during 1990s. It appears that institutional shareholdings—either financial or non-financial corporations—are associated with poor performance, whereas the foreign and domestic private ownerships lead to an improvement in the performance of the firms. We observe that unwinding the cross-shareholding between banks and corporations and mutual transfers among non-financial institutions allows for efficiency gain. Furthermore, the ownership transfer to private and foreign individuals is consistently associated with high market value, which implies that individuals’ transfers lead to an increase in efficiency.     

我国小城镇空间碎化现象探析

从土地产权角度分析小城镇建成区空间碎化现象的成因和影响,指出集体土地所有制的产权设计使集体土地使用具有低廉性和排外性的特征,在很大程度上限制了经济要素的流动,形成了以村庄为单元的经济要素空间分布簇群,是城镇空间碎化形成的关键原因。打破二元分立的土地产权体系,建立城乡一体的土地市场是抑制城镇空间碎化的关键。     

Land Trafficking and the Fertile Spaces of Legality

Land trafficking, responsible for the unprecedented rate of urbanization in many Latin American cities, is often conceptualized through corruption as ‘abuses of public office for private gain’. While those involved in the practice rely at times on violence and illegality, their repertoire is sophisticated, allowing them to move in and out of legality as part of their cost–benefit calculations. In this article I argue that land trafficking is based on legalized corruption. I use an ethnographic approach to observe the strategic conduits that are technically embedded in, and opportunistically related to, different municipal processes to legalize illegality. I demonstrate how land traffickers use morphing possibilities between land tenure types (communal, private and government) and mimic development typologies that have gained legitimacy over time. I also show how conflicting, competing and humanitarian rationalities that characterize the state play a crucial role in promoting land trafficking, by grafting illegality and violations onto ‘formal’ practices.     

城乡统一建设用地市场构建的制度性障碍探析

本文在分析城乡统一建设用地市场构建必要性基础上,找出造成城乡建设用地分割的制度性障碍。这些障碍包括：集体土地所有权各项权能不完整,导致其无法转移;集体土地所有权主体不明确,引起建设用地市场交易主体混乱;宅基地使用制度不合理,割裂了城乡居住用地市场的统一;集体土地使用年期不确定,阻碍土地交易。针对这些障碍,提出了相应的改革策略。     

Henry George's Land Reform: A Comment on Pullen

Henry George described his proposal to tax land rent as tantamount to abolition of the private ownership of land . However, Pullen's suggestion that it might better be described as "conditional, modified, or restricted ownership" falls foul of the fact that all ownership is conditional, modified, or restricted in some sense. Whereas, for George, the private ownership of labor products may be positively justified on grounds of equity, and is subject only to conditions that apply to ownership in general, the private ownership of land may be permitted , but only on grounds of social utility, and only if a radical condition (social appropriation of most of its rent) is met that satisfies the demands of equity.     

Apprehending the Social Philosophy of Henry George

A bstract .   It is the purpose of this essay to consider but three questions regarding the social philosophy of Henry George that have to now received insufficient attention: George's views with respect to the nationalization of land, the efficacy of socialism, and the place of the individual. One may conclude that George is ostensibly an individualist, who nonetheless declares an intent to limit individuality by social restraint; he cherishes the ideals of utopian socialism, while denouncing the directed order; he advocates the nationalization of land, but then is willing to accept private ownership (albeit without aggrandizement). Much is to be done in coming to terms with the fullness of the proposals offered by this social activist and radical philosopher.     

The State as Both Regulator and Player: The Politics of Transfer of Development Rights in China

The conventional argument that the introduction of transfer of development rights (TDR) shifts the power of land use regulation from the state to the market is increasingly under challenge. In China, the state's grip on land is reinforced through TDR, in which the state is both regulator and player. This state-dominated form of TDR affects China in three ways. First, competing aspirations of different scales of government complicate how TDR is implemented. Although the central state promotes TDR to maintain a national balance of arable land, some local states instrumentalize it to expand their landed basis of accumulation. Secondly, TDR tends to benefit the state but not its people. It may increase the fiscal income of the sending government and lessen the land shortage of the receiving government, but sometimes at the expense of the interests of land users without land ownership. Thirdly, given the state's deep involvement in TDR programs, the key for China's TDR to protect arable land lies not so much in clear property rights or a fully fledged market as in effective checks and balances regarding the state's powers over TDR. These three observations attest to the embeddedness of TDR in the local political economy.     

Hedge funds versus private equity funds as shareholder activists in Germany — differences in value creation

We investigate the valuation effects of German firms targeted by hedge funds and by private equity investors. We argue that both types of investors differ from other blockholders by their strong motivation and ability to actively engage and reduce agency costs. Consequently, we find positive abnormal returns following a change in ownership structure. However, these effects differ markedly between both investors, as proxy variables for agency costs only explain the market reaction for our private equity subsample. We conclude that private equity funds seem to be more successful at creating shareholder value, which could be due to their longer-term perspective and a higher adaptability to the surrounding corporate governance system.     

Dynamics of the urban zoning structure: An empirical investigation of zoning change

This study empirically examines the role of land prices in the decision to rezone vacant land from one land use to another. Although the study of zoning and related issues is well documented, this is one of only a handful of studies that directly examines zoning changes. Unlike previous studies that treat zoning as static, acknowledging only that the current allocation of land differs from the market allocation, this study examines if the allocation of land will be reallocated (rezoned) toward a market allocation. The study is unique in that it analyzes zoning changes on an individual property basis and is based on transactions of vacant parcels. The data are drawn from a single municipality, Chicago—Illinois, allowing a uniform definition of zoning classification rather than trying to combine data under multiple zoning authorities.     

频繁调控与失效中的旧城土地制度反思

旧城更新中,政府对土地进行了频繁的调控,与此同时地价、房价持续飙升,呈现调控与失效相伴的局面.基于此,论文从城市土地产权制度的变迁历程、政府干预下的土地交易市场、城市土地产权制度及其制度变迁路径依赖与体制锁定等视角进行了反思,认为问题滋生的原因是多方面的,其中土地产权制度的变迁是滋生问题的历史根源,它模糊了权属关系,积聚了历史病疾,而计划与市场的交织演绎出了双轨配置制度下的土地交易困境.地方政府的绝对垄断扭曲了土地竞争市场,而其根源在于:城市土地产权制度本身的残缺,即旧城土地资源的法律产权和事实上的产权的不一致,导致了市场交易主体对交易客体的权责不统一,而政府调控所制定的一系列的"制度",因其制度本身的利益短视与部门本位,削弱了作为"制度束"的调控威力,加剧了调控"组合拳"的失效.因此,解决问题的关键在于城市土地制度的创新,即基于明晰旧城土地产权关系的前提下,政府退出非公共利益的土地交易市场,实现政府角色的转换──"划桨"与"掌舵"的分离,以此确保旧城更新中房地产的健康发展.     

Irreversible development and eminent domain: Compensation rules, land use and efficiency

This paper examines the efficiency of eminent domain used to acquire green spaces, situations in which private investment permanently destroys the ecological externality value of land. The real option approach takes into account this irreversibility and changes established conclusions for the reversible investment case. Under irreversibility, eminent domain efficiency is more sensitive to compensation rules than previously thought. Setting compensation equal to what market value would be in the absence of eminent domain—the approach taken in the US and many other countries—reduces efficiency relative to losing the ecological externality to private development. Compensating at the market value under eminent domain threat increases efficiency, but not as much as compensation at social value does.     

房地产市场中的政府行为外部效应解析

1988年建立的土地有偿使用制度,实现了我国土地产权的市场化,对培育土地市场和促进经济发展发挥了重要作用,但土地产权的界定不够明晰,缺少外部效应内部化的政策机制,引发土地市场的一系列问题.借助新制度经济学的分析框架,从土地产权的角度分析了政府行为对土地市场的影响,并运用特征价格法,对广州市地铁二号线和内环路建设的实例,分析评价了政府行为对土地价值的影响.最后从完善土地产权的角度探讨了政府在土地市场中的角色和作用,指出由于缺乏对政府行为引起的"得益"和"受损"的应对机制,导致政府利益受损和土地市场的不公平与不确定性,需从土地产权角度出发,完善相关政策.