Large-Scale Land Investments in Least Developed Countries: Legal Conflicts Between Investment and Human Rights Protection (1st ed. 2017) (International Law and Economics)

By: Luis Tomás Montilla Fernández

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: 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.