Publication

This article shows that property rights for marginalized groups are not related to long-run development. Economic growth can occur when the property rights of elites are secure but marginalized minorities face high a risk of expropriation, because land may be reallocated into the hands of investors with better access to know-how, capital, and other complementary production inputs. At the same time, secure property rights for marginalized minorities are not required for the government accountability that facilitates aggregate growth-enhancing economic policies: security of property rights for elites can increase accountability of the governing elites towards other elites with divergent interests, while broad but not universal property rights security can generate accountability of public officials to the majority but still exclude the minority.