This course considers the relationship between land, law and economic development in Asia, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia. It covers the following material:

• Law and economics propositions relating to property rights and their central role in market development;
• The role of law in regulating common property systems and community-based natural resource management;
• The development of open access, tenure insecurity and resource conflicts in Third World systems; and
• Selected case-studies from China and Southeast Asia.

The learning outcomes include equipping students to:

• understand the theoretical relationship between land law, property rights and economic development, particularly in institutional and economic terms;
• understand the development of open access, tenure insecurity and resource conflicts in Southeast Asia and China;
• understand the diverse histories, objectives and structures of land law in Southeast Asia and China;
• understand in detail the nature and challenges of land law in Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, East Timor, Vietnam and China, particularly in terms of constitutional authority over land, systems of land administration and mechanisms for formalising and unifying diverse tenure sysstems.

One research essay of 6,000 to 8,000 words.
The assignment topics are squarely based on the reading materials covered in class from the four books of reading materials.

Book 1 on the theory of land law and economic development
Book 2 on Indonesia and Malaysia
Book 3 on Cambodia and East Timor
Book 4 on Vietnam and China

The reading materials will be analysed through sets of semi-structured questions for class discussion. These questions will be similar in nature to the list of proposed assignement questions. Students may also determine their own assignment topic after consultation and approval by the course convenor.

26 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery)

Click here for the 2010 timetable