FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Anthony Flint
617-661-3016 x116
LESSONS LEARNED ON PROPERTY RIGHTS IN LINCOLN INSTITUTE’S THIRD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LAND POLICY CONFERENCE
Eminent domain, regulatory takings, impacts on affordable housing, environmental regulation, and economic development examined; conference proceedings from 2007 are published
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In the United States, property rights advocates energized by the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision have been pressing for compensation for regulations ranging from restrictions on wetlands development to growth boundaries in Oregon. But the issue of property rights has also become important in developing countries and economies in transition, such as China, Russia, and Vietnam.
These complex issues will be examined in Land Policies and Property Rights June 2-3 at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s third annual international land policy conference will feature scholars with perspectives from several disciplines including economics, law, political science, and planning.
“Property rights issues have been evolving around the world, and now is a good time to take stock,” said Gregory K. Ingram, President of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. “In the post-Kelo environment high-income, developing, and transitional countries can learn from each other’s experiences. Clarifying property rights has become increasingly important everywhere.”
In developing countries, debates continue on the impact of land titling programs on economic development in general and access to credit in particular, Ingram said. Meanwhile, transitional economies such as China are implementing leasing practices that facilitate market transactions of land use rights while maintaining aspects of state ownership of land.
The conference will begin with an opening address by Harvey Jacobs, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has written extensively on the subject of property rights for the Lincoln Institute. The keynote speaker is Elinor Ostrom, professor at Indiana University. Other participants include Robert Ellickson of Yale Law School, Jerold Kayden, from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, John Echeverria from the Georgetown University Law Center, Lincoln Institute visiting fellow Gerald Korngold of New York Law School, Dwight Perkins of Harvard University, and many others.
Topics include eminent domain, regulatory takings, “givings” in the form of increases in property values caused by public actions, titling and secure land tenure, environmental protection, land conservation, affordable housing, and the emergence of land markets in transitional economies, including China, Russia, and Vietnam.
The proceedings from last year’s conference, which focused on decentralization of responsibilities for revenue and expenditure to local governments, are now available as a published volume. Fiscal Decentralization and Land Policies (Cambridge: Lincoln Institute, 2008 / 432 pages / Paper / $30.00 ISBN: 978-1-55844-178-1), edited by Gregory K. Ingram and Yu-Hung Hong, fellow at the Lincoln Institute, explores how fiscal decentralization has important policy implications for urban growth management, environmental conservation, and property taxation.
For example, in addition to having powers to set local taxes and make local expenditures in many countries, local governments also have powers to regulate land uses within the general guidelines set by higher authorities. These two powers interact so that municipalities often make land use decisions while
considering their fiscal effects. Understanding how local and provincial governments exercise power, make decisions about their revenues and expenditures, and are held accountable for outcomes, is crucial for land policy research and education.
The 2007 international land policy conference addressed international trends and issues related to decentralization and chronicled the decentralization experiences in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and developing nations. The volume presents findings on the extent and effectiveness of local service provision under decentralization; the connections between decentralization and local policies concerning public school finance, local environmental policy, and urban economic development strategy; and the effects of intergovernmental transfers on other issues such as local fiscal prudence and income distribution.
For review copies of Fiscal Decentralization and Land Policies, and media interested in attending Land Policies and Property Rights, please contact Anthony Flint at the Lincoln Institute at anthony.flint@lincolninst.edu. The Lincoln Institute Web site is at www.lincolninst.edu.
# # #