Empirical research supports this conclusion:
In a 2003 study, Dr Bernhard Heitger ((2003) EconStor: Property rights and their impact on the wealth of nations: a cross-country study) found that improving property rights institutions led to more than a doubling of per capita income in a cross-country study covering two decades. His study investigated the quality of property rights and long-term economic growth in an international cross-section of countries 1975 – 1995. Empirical tests indicated that the impact of secure private property rights on growth is positive and simultaneously determined. A remarkable emerging regression coefficient indicated that a doubling in the index of the quality of property rights, leads to a more than doubling in per capita income.
In addition, private property rights also impact the “traditional” determinants of economic growth. Thus, Heitger concluded, “It seems appropriate to class secure private property rights with the ultimate sources of economic growth.”
A 2020 Cato Institute global analysis revealed that countries adopting full cadastral systems recording property boundaries, subdivision lines, buildings and related details, experienced a 2.86 percentage point increase in GDP per capita, owing merely to the enhanced legal certainty.
In Nigeria, Dr Jeremiah Omojuyigbe et al. ((2024) Property Rights Protection and Economic Growth in Nigeria) identified positive correlations between improved property rights and economic growth but also highlighted the impediments posed by bureaucratic inefficiencies and disputes over land tenure.
Lahsen and Piper ((2019) Do Institutions Affect Well-being? Evidence from Latin America), studying several Latin American countries, found that strengthened property rights led to measurable increases in life satisfaction and individual well-being, even when controlling for income levels.
Property rights also serve as a litmus test for the rule of law. Nations that defend them tend to have more transparent, predictable and accountable institutions, features essential to both economic confidence and political stability. Where one is dependent on the goodwill of a state or government factotum to decide who lives on which land, when and for how long, dissent is at once curtailed and true multi-party democracy destroyed.
Beyond economic metrics, property rights underpin autonomy and social mobility. Ownership empowers individuals to make decisions about their lives, allocate resources efficiently, and plan for the future.
Ownership provides the material foundation for civic participation, access to finance, and intergenerational wealth transfer. This reinforces both economic and political enfranchisement.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, billions globally still lack secure titles to their land, homes, businesses and other personal assets. The World Bank estimates that nearly 70% of the world’s population lacks formal documentation of land ownership, inter alia. Addressing this gap is not merely a developmental goal, it is a structural imperative.
Efforts to enhance property rights should include:
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Simplifying land titling procedures and reducing bureaucratic barriers.
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Strengthening judicial institutions to enforce contracts.
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Promoting legal awareness among marginalised groups, particularly women.
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Integrating stronger property rights reform into broader governance policies and strategies.
The case for private property rights is not a matter of abstract principle. It is a matter of empirical certainty and economic necessity. From the subsistence farmer to the multinational firm, the assurance that property is secure forms the basis of investment, innovation and long-term prosperity. Nations that uphold such rights enjoy not only greater wealth but deeper stability, liberty, democracy and social progress. Conversely, where property rights are weak or absent, economic stagnation, institutional fragility, and social disenfranchisement are all but inevitable.
In sum, it is simply not open to informed debate: The success of any true democracy and its economy is inseparable from its commitment to the sanctity, universality and inviolability of private property rights.