6 results on '"Joireman, Sandra F"'
Search Results
2. Property Rights Adjudication in Kisii, Kenya.
- Author
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Henrysson, Elin and Joireman, Sandra F.
- Subjects
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ECONOMIC efficiency , *LAND tenure , *CONTRACTS for deeds , *LAND title registration & transfer - Abstract
Scholars have argued that economic efficiency requires a clear definition of the rights of ownership, contract and transfer of land. Ambiguity in the definition or enforcement of any of these rights leads to an increase in transaction costs in the exchange and transfer of land as well as a âresidual uncertaintyâ after any land contract. The disjuncture between public and customary law regulating property rights is a problem for capital formation across Africa. In Kenya government efforts at establishing clearly defined property rights and adjudication mechanisms have been plagued by the existence of alternative processes for the adjudication of disputes. This paper will compare the costs and processes of the formal and informal methods of property rights adjudication and address which groups of people use which system. The research results suggest that legal attempts at property rights reform, now common across Africa and many other parts of the world, face difficulty in enforcement and often only affect the property rights of a privileged elite. People who are not members of the elite are constrained by customary systems which govern the allocation of land. Contrary to previous assumptions, field research has demonstrated that the adjudication of disputes regarding land within customary systems in Kisii involves such great expense that even the traditional systems of conflict resolution are beyond the means of many citizens. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
3. In Search of Order: Property Rights Enforcement in Kibera Settlement, Kenya.
- Author
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Joireman, Sandra F. and Sweet, Rachel
- Subjects
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SLUMS , *PROPERTY rights , *LAND tenure , *COMMUNITY organization , *GANGS , *CONTRACTS - Abstract
In Kibera, Nairobi Kenya's largest slum, getting property rights enforced is no simple matter. Structures are owned by one person and rented by another, neither of whom have rights to the land on which the structure stands. Rental contracts are the subject of frequent dispute for residents and government conflict resolution mechanisms are inaccessible. Using structured interviews and working with local community based organizations we were able to identify three different mechanisms for contract enforcement that developed apart from the formal government channel: 1) bureaucratic entrepreneurs willing to act outside of their area of authority; 2) community based organizations; and 3) ethnic gangs. All of these mechanisms assist people in getting their property rights contracts enforced. In this paper we establish a rubric for the assessment of welfare maximization based on extant literature in new institutional economics. We discuss each of these contract enforcement institutions and evaluate them against the rubric. We find that these organically developed solutions to the inaccessibility of government mechanisms for contact enforcement are not obviously superior to the formal institutions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
4. The Transplantation of the Common Law in Kenya and India.
- Author
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Joireman, Sandra F.
- Subjects
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COMMON law , *CUSTOMARY law , *LAW - Abstract
India has an advanced legal system in which Engliah common law has adapted well to the local environment and developed in complexity, much in the way that scholars of the common law would predict. Kenya, on the other hand, also with a common law system developed under a British colonial administration, has a legal system which has not adpated well to the culture and environment. For example, in Kenya at independence there were three specific laws which directly affected property ownership. Currently in Kenya there are still just those three laws. Why did legal development and change occur in India and not Kenya? This paper will examine the two cases from a comparative perspective using archival resources as well as interviews to explain why the common law has not taken hold and adapted in the Kenyan context as it did in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
5. On the Edge of the Law: Women's Property Rights and Dispute Resolution in Kisii, Kenya.
- Author
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Henrysson, Elin and Joireman, Sandra F.
- Subjects
- *
PROPERTY rights , *WOMEN'S rights , *DISPUTE resolution , *LEGAL status of women , *LAW ,KENYAN politics & government, 2002- - Abstract
Scholars have argued that economic efficiency requires a clear definition of the rights of ownership, contract, and transfer of land. Ambiguity in the definition or enforcement of any of these rights leads to an increase in transaction costs in the exchange and transfer of land as well as a residual uncertainty after any land contract. In Kenya, government efforts at establishing clearly defined property rights and adjudication mechanisms have been plagued by the existence of alternative processes for the adjudication of disputes. Customary dispute resolution has been praised as an inexpensive alternative to official judicial processes in a legally pluralistic environment. However, our research demonstrates that customary processes may also carry a monetary cost that puts them beyond the means of many citizens. This article compares the costs and processes of the formal and informal methods of property rights adjudication for women in the Kisii region of Kenya. The research results suggest that women have weak property rights overall, they have limited access to formal dispute resolution systems because of costs involved, and even the informal systems of conflict resolution are beyond the means of many citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Promised Land: Settlement Schemes in Kenya, 1962 to 2016.
- Author
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Boone, Catherine, Lukalo, Fibian, and Joireman, Sandra F.
- Subjects
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LAND settlement , *STATE power , *POLITICAL geography , *NATURAL resources , *REPRESENTATIVE government - Abstract
Smallholder settlement schemes have played a prominent role in Kenya's contested history of state-building, land politics, and electoral mobilization. This paper presents the first georeferenced dataset documenting scheme location, boundaries, and attributes of Kenya's 533 official settlement schemes, as well as the first systematic data on scheme creation since 1980. The data show that almost half of all government schemes were created after 1980, as official rural development rationales for state-sponsored settlement gave way to more explicitly welfarist and electoralist objectives. Even so, logics of state territorialization to fix ethnicized, partisan constituencies to state-defined territorial units pervade the history of scheme creation over the entire 1962–2016 period, as theorized in classic political geography works on state territorialization. While these "geopolitics" of regime construction are fueled by patronage politics, they also sustain practices of land allocation that affirm the moral and political legitimacy of grievance-backed claims for land. This fuels on-going contestation around political representation and acute, if socially-fragmented, demands for state-recognition of land rights. Our findings are consistent with recent political geography and interdisciplinary work on rural peoples' demands for state recognition of land rights and access to natural resources. Kenya's history of settlement scheme creation shows that even in the country's core agricultural districts, where the reach of formal state authority is undisputed, the territorial politics of power-consolidation and resource allocation continues to be shaped by social demands and pressures from below. • New georeferenced data tracks Kenyan settlement schemes since 1962. • Data over more than five decades suggests changing purpose of land settlement schemes. • State territorialization strategies through land allocation are a constant over time. • Land hunger and societal demands for land shape state practices and policies. • Current policy debates call for new research on settlement, land allocation, and agriculture in Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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