Economic Development and Property Rights in Developing Countries
IDE Research Bulletin
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ABSTRACT
What influence does the legal system that stipulates property rights have over the state of economic activities of people? This study investigates this question from both theoretical and practical aspects.
For our theoretical study, we investigated the manner in which social sciences, including economics, have dealt with the function, role, and basis of property rights from the viewpoints of social justice, economic development, and appropriate resource allocation, examining the respective scope of the analysis and its suitability.
Simultaneously, we focused on the way the laws concerning property rights reflect economic and transactional customs that are formed within the historical and cultural path dependency. As a case study, we will explore real rights in the Iranian Civil Code, which is deeply affected by traditional Islamic law, and will argue that their inherent regional nature is driven from path dependency.