Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations.

The regionally unique constitution of
the Republic of Vanuatu provides that-all land in Vanuatu
belongs to custom owners and their descendants and that
the-rule of custom shall form the basis of ownership and use
of land. Implementing this principle, however, after decades

In this issue of the NR Newsletter, we welcome 2012 as the UN-declared International Year of Energy for All, an opportunity to concentrate global attention on the challenges facing both developed and developing countries when addressing access to and efficient use of sustainable energy sources.

En este número del Boletín del Departamento de Gestión de RecursosNaturales y Medio Ambiente nos complace anunciar que las Naciones Unidas han declarado el año 2012 Año Internacional de la Energía Sostenible para Todos.

The report provides quantitative and qualitative insights into the performance of different non-permanence approaches for consideration of parties. This note summarizes the results of the analysis presented in the report.

Investigates private sector investment in conservation and ecotourism through conservancy land leases in the Mara region of Kenya. In recent and growing tourism development, groups of Maasai landowners are leasing their parcels of land to tourism investors and forming wildlife conservancies. Examines this model and the implications it has for Maasai livelihoods and the environment.

Internal displacement in Colombia has
become more prevalent and serious. Expulsion of land users
to gain territorial control is increasingly a tactical
element in the conflict. High land inequality makes it
easier to uproot populations. Providing assistance to

This paper provides a brief overview of
the intersection of state and customary laws governing land
in peri-urban settlements around Honiara, focusing on their
impact upon landowners, particularly women landowners. It
suggests that the intersection of customary and state legal

On December 26 2004, a 9.3 magnitude
earthquake struck the Indian Ocean and unleashed a blast of
energy, creating a tsunami three stories high. The disaster
which claimed more than 228,000 lives had an impact on the
lives of more than 2.5 million people causing close to US$

When contracts are incomplete, relationship-specific investments may be underprovided due to the threat of opportunistic expropriation or holdup. The authors find evidence of such underinvestment on tenanted land in rural Pakistan. Using data from households cultivating multiple plots under different tenure arrangements, they show that land-specific investment is lower on leased plots.

In the 1980s the Thai government tried to legalize squatters by issuing special titles that restricted the sale and rental of the land. Using data from 2,874 farming households collected in 1997, the author finds that in places where these government titles where issued, leased plots are more likely to be titled than those that are self-cultivated.

China has undergone a profound economic and social transformation as it moves from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented economy.