Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Abstract
This paper is a comment on the work of Hernando de Soto, who has done so much to highlight the importance of property rights, especially in the context of what I will call migrant communities within developing countries. These are the shantytowns of Peru, the favelas of Brazil, and the bidonvilles of Haiti. De Soto characterizes these communities as “extralegal zones.” They consist, in his words, of “modest homes cramped together on city perimeters, a myriad of workshops in their midst, armies of vendors hawking their wares on the streets, and countless crisscrossing minibus lines.” I am interested in de Soto’s work on these migrant communities for two reasons, which are related.
Disciplines
Law | Property Law and Real Estate
Recommended Citation
Thomas W. Merrill,
Formalization, Possession, and Ownership,
6
Brigham-Kanner Prop. Rts. Conf. J.
113
(2017).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/3318
Comments
Originally published in the William & Mary Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal.