Property Rights of Internally Displaced Persons : IDEALS AND REALITIES

Solving the internal displacement problem is crucial for building peace, and any solution to the problem of internal displacement must include institutionalized property rights for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Granting property rights to IDPs is not only important for creating incentives for them to return home, but also for generating the means to re-establish their lives elsewhere, i.e., to resettle and reintegrate. The methodology followed here is both quantitative and qualitative. The results of the quantitative analysis show that property rights are an important determinant of IDP return and resettlement. In the qualitative part, a more detailed analysis of individual cases of Bosnia and Cyprus elucidate and confirm the theory proven by quantitative analysis with qualitative data, and uncover the endogenous variables affecting the settlement of the problem of internal displacement that are overlooked by aggregate data.