Large-Scale Land Investments in Least Developed Countries
Legal Conflicts Between Investment and Human Rights Protection
| <p>Discusses the important topic of large-scale land investments in developing countries from a law and economics perspective</p><p>Analyses to what extent the international legal framework protects the human right to property and to food</p> Provides insights for policy designers in order to improve the state of the art<p></p> |
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<p>This book analyses large-scale land investments for agricultural purposes in Africa’s least developed countries from a law and economics perspective. Focusing on the effects of foreign land investments on host countries’ local populations and the apparent failure of international law to create incentives to offset them, it also examines the legal and economic mechanisms to hold investors accountable in cases where their investment leads to human rights violations. Applying principal agent and contract theory, it elucidates the sources of opportunism and develops control mechanisms to ameliorate the negative effects. It shows that although judicial mechanisms fail to deliver justice, international law offers alternatives to safeguard against arbitrary and abusive state and investor conduct, and also to effectuate human rights and, thus, tackle opportunistic behaviour.</p>