Schnur 2022 Political Divide, Weak Property Rights, and Infrastructure Provision- An Empirical Examination of Takings Decisions in Jerusalem

Introduction

In the study by Ronit Levine-Schnur, titled "Political Divide, Weak Property Rights, and Infrastructure Provision: An Empirical Examination of Takings Decisions in Jerusalem," a unique dataset of expropriation exercises over 25 years in Jerusalem reveals significant disparities in property rights and land use between Palestinian and Jewish communities. The study’s findings suggest that Palestinian land is disproportionately targeted for expropriation, while Jewish communities benefit more significantly from the land taken.

Key Findings

  • Expropriation Rates:

    • Palestinian property constituted 38% of all land taken, yet only 10% has been repurposed for local Palestinian community needs.

    • In contrast, Jewish land accounted for only 4% of total takings while benefitting from 33% of the repurposed land.

    • Land not owned by Jews is significantly more likely to be taken for citywide purposes.

  • Impact of Property Rights:

    • The study highlights that nonformalized Palestinian land is ten to twenty-three times more likely to be taken for noncommunity purposes than formalized land.

    • Weak property rights increase the risk of expropriation, contradicting the conventional notion that such weaknesses inhibit infrastructure development.

Political Context

Ethnoracial Divide

  • Post-1967 annexation of East Jerusalem established stark residential segregation; Jewish and Palestinian communities live in separate neighborhoods with differing access to resources and political power.

  • Most East Jerusalem Palestinians lack citizenship rights and do not participate in local elections, reducing their representation and influence on planning decisions.

Eminent Domain Framework

  • The study posits that eminent domain must be understood not only as an individual loss of property but as a governmental decision impacting community welfare.

  • The just compensation framework is criticized for inadequately addressing the needs of minority communities subjected to expropriation, highlighting systemic inequities in land use allocations.

Research Design

  • The research employed a hand-coded dataset, analyzing 3,448 instances of expropriation tied to 369 local development projects from 1990 to 2014. Data sources included city archives, land records, and GIS analysis.

  • The study correlated landowner identities with the nature of subsequent developments, exposing significant inequalities in benefits derived from land takings.

Conclusions

  • The study concludes that property expropriation in Jerusalem disproportionately affects Palestinian communities, leading to greater burdens in infrastructure provision while favoring Jewish neighborhoods in the distribution of benefits.

  • Weak property rights do not help to explain limited infrastructure investment; rather, they contribute to increased governmental predation of nonformalized lands for citywide benefits.

  • The findings urge a reevaluation of legal and administrative frameworks governing property rights and expropriations to ensure fairer distributional practices and mitigate political biases.