Large-Scale Land Investments in Least Developed Countries: Legal Conflicts Between Investment and Human Rights Protection

Description

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. Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introductory Part (Luis Tomás Montilla Fernández)....Pages 1-31 What Is ‘Land Grabbing’ (Luis Tomás Montilla Fernández)....Pages 33-79 International Law Conundrum (Luis Tomás Montilla Fernández)....Pages 81-204 Opportunism in LSLI Contracts: An Economic View (Luis Tomás Montilla Fernández)....Pages 205-259 Tackling Opportunism in LSLIs (Luis Tomás Montilla Fernández)....Pages 261-338 Concluding Remarks (Luis Tomás Montilla Fernández)....Pages 339-344