Property Insecurity and Globalization

How does globalization, here deemed opening up a nation to external economic forces, affect the enforcement of property and contract rights in a society? This has been a largely neglected area in the academic literature. But the arrival of foreign interests has set off complaints and demands for better treatment by domestic citizens in many places in the globalizing world. These demands are often the result of changing perceptions as to what the government should be doing in the economy, changing mental models (MMs).

Opening up to outside economic forces (globalization) affects many parts of the economy and society. A key question we focus on here is how does globalization affect MMs and prices, opportunities for corrupt acts? The opening can be a difficult time for keeping public administration effective and free from corruption. The resulting problems can reduce the security of property, especially for domestic citizens and businesses, as the focus of government’s actions turns to...