- Home
- Research & Transfer
- Research Projects
- Large-Scale Land Acquisitions, Rural Change, and Social Conflict
Large-Scale Land Acquisitions, Rural Change, and Social Conflict
By combining theoretical and methodological approaches in political science, economics, and environmental sciences, this project analyzes the effects of large-scale land acquisitions on rural structural change and social conflicts in order to advance academic research, provide international policy advice, and inform the work of local advocacy and development organizations.
BMZ, 2019-2022
Team
Head
Research Questions
How do large-scale land acquisitions affect rural structural change and the risk of social conflict in developing countries? To understand how these “land grabs” translate into social conflict we investigate how they affect rural socio-economic structures and rural livelihoods. We pay particular attention to socio-economic inequality and examine how local formal and informal institutions may mitigate or intensify adverse implications of land deals.
Contribution to International Research
Despite clear indications that land acquisitions matter for social conflict, this relationship has remained under-studied. Both of the research strands highlight that the advent of an investor and changes in the availability and distribution of land do not mechanically produce specific outcomes. Instead, we observe considerable heterogeneity of effects, which indicates a key role for conditioning factors. Nonetheless, only little research has assessed the role of institutions and of inequality in terms of their mediating and intervening effects.
Research Design and Methods
Secondly, we will collect quantitative data from two case studies in regions with a high incidence of large-scale land acquisitions: West Africa and South East Asia. Specifically, we will conduct two household surveys in selected rural sites in Liberia and Indonesia.
Thirdly, these quantitative analyses will be complemented by in-depth qualitative studies of selected cases. The cases will be selected to be exemplary of specific combinations of realizations of conflict outcomes, intervening variables, and context factors