During the Summer of 2007, I had the opportunity to travel to Peru with Carrie B. Kerekes in order to conduct fieldwork on property rights. By utilizing Peru as a case study, we investigate the impact of government land titling and its ability to secure property rights. We specifically focus on rural Peru, whereas most other land titling articles focus on urban areas. Our findings suggest that land titling does not achieve the positive benefits associated with secure property rights, such as access to credit. We also find that private enforcement methods of securing property are preferred to public means. Our paper, "Propertyless in Peru, Even With a Government Land Title," expands on these findings and offers possible economic explanations to these results.
Our primary method of conducting this fieldwork was based on interviews with residents in rural communities surrounding Cusco, Peru. These interviews were made possible by Edwar Escalante at Andes Libres. We also met with other economic research organizations in Lima, Peru, including Hernando de Soto's research team, the Instituto Libertad Y Democracia (ILD) and Enrique Ghersi at CITEL. Other organizations included the Instituto de Libre Empresa, Procapitales, and GRADE.
Interviews in rural communities surrounding Cusco, Peru:
Meetings In Lima, Peru:
Meeting with Jose Luis Tapia Rocha and the ILE
Meeting Hernando de Soto