For years Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian economist, has been arguing that urban poverty can be alleviated by giving the poor property rights. A recent edition of The Wall Street Journal featured an article describing the different outcomes of Argentinian families that occupied what they thought to be public land twenty-five years ago.
It so happened that the land was not public, but was owned by thirteen separate people. The government was able to buy the land from eight of the owners and pass title to that land to those living there. It is still negotiating with the other five.
So, you had a situation where in the beginning everybody was more or less equal - the same background, education, size of lot, type of job, etc. But once some people owned their land, things changed. Those who owned land are now many years later much better off than those who have not yet been able to get title. Not only do they have better houses. They have fewer children and they are better educated. There are fewer teenage pregnancies. They are more optimistic about the future.
The title to their land - a piece of paper - has certainly made a difference in San Francisco Solano.
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