PROPERTY RIGHTS, LAND MARKETS, AND POVERTY IN NAMIBIA'S 'EXTRA-LEGAL' SETTLEMENTS: AN INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH

Abstract

This paper represents work in progress of ongoing and wider research of urban land and real estate markets in Namibia. The research attempts to apply the conceptual tools of the New Institutional Economics, principally the theories of transaction costs and property rights, to the analysis of land and real estate markets in Namibia's ‘extra-legal’ urban settlements and how these markets interface with poverty alleviation. In the context of this wider research, this paper has a number of more limited objectives. Firstly, an attempt is made to clarify in conceptual terms the link between property rights, transaction costs, property markets and poverty alleviation. Secondly the theoretical and empirical literature relevant to this subject is reviewed and critical knowledge gaps highlighted. Thirdly, the proposed Flexible Land Tenure System is briefly discussed and its potential contribution to the functioning of property markets in informal settlements analysed. Finally the paper presents preliminary survey information from some settlements in the City of Windhoek to illustrate the potential application of the institutional approach to analysing the interface between property markets and poverty alleviation.

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