 | Land Tenure Security and Agricultural Productivity
September 9, 2009 Mercatus On Policy Daniel Sacks,
Karol Boudreaux |
| Achieving land tenure reform is by no means an easy or quick process. However, the benefits over the long term can lead to substantial gains for smallholder farmers’ competitiveness.
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 | Land Conflict and Genocide in Rwanda
July 11, 2009 Journal Articles Karol Boudreaux |
| In his 2005 best-selling book Collapse, Jared Diamond argues that some societies “choose to fail or succeed.” One of the cases he explores in his book is the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which he calls a modern day Malthusian crisis. However, the arguments he employs to explain why Rwandan society was unable to peacefully and effectively manage rising population pressures overlook a host of political factors that limited the ability of people to respond to increased competition for land in pre-genocide Rwanda.
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 | South Africa: Increasing Opportunities for the Poor
April 1, 2009 Mercatus Policy Series Johan van der Walt,
Karol Boudreaux |
| In this Country Brief, Enterprise Africa! lead researcher Karol Boudreaux and program associate Johan van der Walt focus on three domestic policy issues that they believe are important to expanding opportunities for South Africa’s poor: employment, education, and security. In addition, they also focus on three foreign policy issues that they believe are significant to leveraging South Africa’s unique position in international affairs: regional integration, good governance, and public and cultural diplomacy.
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 | The Freedom and Economics of Choice
November 14, 2008 Journal Articles Karol Boudreaux |
| The endless variety of choices Americans enjoy daily is extraordinary—and yet so common it can be easily taken for granted. This world of choice is so starkly different than the one faced by many African entrepreneurs. What are the economics of choice, and why is consumer choice a fundamental indicator of individual liberty and the condition of democratic societies?
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 | Starving for Change
November 3, 2008 Mercatus On Policy Daniel Sacks,
Karol Boudreaux |
| The United States government spends over two billion dollars a year on food aid, supposedly to help poor, hungry people around the world fight off starvation. However, much of this money is not helping the hungry, but instead supports U.S. farmers, shipping companies, and food manufacturers.
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 | Urbanisation and Informality in Africa's Housing Markets
June 9, 2008 Journal Articles Karol Boudreaux |
| A maze of regulations and administrative barriers has imposed high transaction costs on formal-sector housing entrepreneurs. By raising the costs of providing low-income housing, African governments bear much responsibility for driving formal-sector entrepreneurs out of the housing market and for driving their citizens into slums.
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 | The Legal Empowerment of the Poor: Titling and Poverty Alleviation in Post-Apartheid South Africa
June 1, 2008 Journal Articles Karol Boudreaux |
| Titling programs transfer property titles from the public sector to private individuals and in the process allow them to convert property into capital. This process is a key step on the road towards the legal empowerment of the poor. However, legal empowerment of the poor is about even more than converting property into capital.
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(2).jpg) | A New Call of the Wild: Community-Based Natural Resource Management in Namibia
May 1, 2008 Journal Articles Karol Boudreaux |
| The Namibian government is currently addressing twin goals of environment protection and rural economic development by means of an innovative policy of community-based natural resource management. This policy, implemented by a legislative amendment in 1996, is helping to revive a previously decimated environment. At the same time, the policy is empowering local people.
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 | Book Review of Paul Collier's 'The Bottom Billion'
April 30, 2008 Journal Articles Karol Boudreaux |
| In this book review, Karol Boudreaux notes that Paul Collier makes a strong case that the world’s billion poorest people face unique challenges that call for strategic development assistance. In the end, however, Ms. Boudreaux emphasizes that what is needed most is sustained entrepreneurship.
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 | Empowering the Poor Through Property Rights
April 14, 2008 Books Karol Boudreaux |
| Fair access to property rights goes way beyond their role as economic assets. Secure and accessible property rights provide a sense of identity, dignity, and belonging to people of very different economic means. They create reliable ties of rights and obligations among community members as well as a system of mutual recognition of rights and responsibilities beyond the local community. |
