Of land and Leviathan : how state-society bargaining shapes infrastructure in India
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Infrastructure is crucial for development, yet it is chronically under-provided. This dissertation focuses on a key obstacle to infrastructure development: conflict over land acquisition. Using the case of India, this study aims to understand why and when resistance to the state's use of eminent domain powers arises, and investigates two key questions: 1) what prevents mutually-beneficial bargains between landowners and the state, and 2) under what conditions can the state enforce land acquisition? Chapter 1 argues that bargaining breakdown is not solely explained by state capacity, but rather by the strength of commitment problems between state and landowners. First, landowners with a high value for land cannot credibly commit not to use protests to extract additional resources from the state. Second, the state cannot commit to compensating all landowners fairly in an environment where land records are outdated and property rights are weak. Chapter 2 uses infrastructure project announcements as a proxy for land acquisition and analyzes the impact of a reform that improved landowners' collective action capacity and worsened their commitment problem. It provides empirical evidence that variation in landowners' commitment problems explains conflict prevalence. Chapter 3 explores the impact of the state's commitment problem on infrastructure investment and project implementation. Examining a land record digitization reform, the chapter shows that stronger property rights enhance the state's ability to implement infrastructure. Chapter 4 focuses on state responses to resistance and argues that bureaucrats with local ties can improve the state's internal coherence and penetration of society, thus reducing conflict around land acquisition. This chapter shows that infrastructure projects implemented with the involvement of local bureaucrats are less likely to face conflict and stall, due to bureaucrats' effective coordination of coercion with local politicians. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of land acquisition conflicts, the importance of property rights, and the role of embedded bureaucrats in policy enforcement. The findings hold implications for policymakers seeking to address the infrastructure deficit and mitigate conflicts over land acquisition in developing countries.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Toth, Aliz Barbara |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Grzymala-Busse, Anna Maria, 1970- |
| Degree supervisor | Scheve, Kenneth F |
| Thesis advisor | Grzymala-Busse, Anna Maria, 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | Scheve, Kenneth F |
| Thesis advisor | Gulzar, Saad |
| Thesis advisor | Prillaman, Soledad Artiz |
| Thesis advisor | Weinstein, Jeremy M |
| Degree committee member | Gulzar, Saad |
| Degree committee member | Prillaman, Soledad Artiz |
| Degree committee member | Weinstein, Jeremy M |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Political Science |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Aliz Barbara Toth. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Political Science. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/tk190bw0625 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Aliz Barbara Toth
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...