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ABSTRACT
The lack of a comprehensive property rights system is an issue of pressing concern in most economies in the Global South. Property rights-related issues have important social, economic and environmental consequences. This paper argues that one of the most impactful uses of blockchain in the Global South could be in the creation, implementation and enforcement of property rights. The article provides an in‐depth analysis of a blockchain-based land registry project in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. It also delves into facilitators for and barriers to a large-scale adoption and deployment of blockchain for this purpose. The paper shows that with blockchain, the benefits of digitisation of land records can be amplified and some of the major drawbacks of digitisation can be avoided.
Acknowledgements
I am extremely grateful to TWQ’s Founding Editor Shahid Qadir and the anonymous reviewers for their detailed, generous and insightful comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Bandyopadhyay, “Land System in India.”
2 Hanstad, “Case for Land Reform in India.”
3 Ibid.
4 Appu, Land Reforms in India.
5 Heston and Kumar, “Institutional Flaws and Corruption Incentives in India”; Islam and Lee, “Bureaucratic Corruption and Income.”
6 Transparency International, India Corruption Study 2005.
7 Benjamin and Raman, “Illegible Claims”; Thontteh and Omirin, “Land Registration within the Framework”; Moreri, Fairbairn, and James, “Volunteered Geographic Information Quality Assessment.”
8 Benjamin and Raman, “Illegible Claims.”
9 Thontteh and Omirin, “Land Registration within the Framework.”
10 Benjamin, Bhuvaneswari, and Rajan, “Bhoomi: ‘E–Governance.’”
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Akshatha, “Karnataka’s Famed Land Record Database.”
15 Thakur et al., “Land Records on Blockchain.”
16 Kshetri, “Will Blockchain Emerge as a Tool.”
17 Kenny, “How Much Aid Is Really Lost.”
18 Kshetri, "Blockchain-Based Financial Technologies.”
19 Kshetri, Global Entrepreneurship; Swan, Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy.
20 Zwitter and Boisse-Despiaux, “Blockchain for Humanitarian Action and Development Aid.”
21 Themistocleous, “Blockchain Technology and Land Registry.”
22 Gebre, “Blockchain Opens Up.”
23 Yaga, Mell, and Scarfone, “Blockchain Technology Overview.”
24 Moreri, Fairbairn, and James, “Volunteered Geographic Information Quality Assessment.”
25 Thontteh and Omirin, “Land Registration within the Framework.”
26 Benjamin, Bhuvaneswari, and Rajan, “Bhoomi: ‘E–Governance.’”
27 Benjamin and Raman, “Illegible Claims.”
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Benjamin, Bhuvaneswari, and Rajan, “Bhoomi: ‘E–Governance.’”
31 Ibid.
32 Manski, “Building the Blockchain World.”
33 Swan, “Anticipating the Economic Benefits of Blockchain.”
34 Dwyer, "Blockchain: A Primer."
35 Lemieux, “Evaluating the Use of Blockchain.”
36 Lantmateriet, “Land Registry in the Blockchain.”
37 Lemieux, “Trusting Records.”
38 Kshetri, “Will Blockchain Emerge as a Tool.”
39 Kshetri and Voas,"Blockchain in Developing Countries.”
40 Manski, “Building the Blockchain World.”
41 Thakur et al., “Land Records on Blockchain.”
42 Graglia and Mellon, “Blockchain and Property in 2018.”
43 Kriticos, “Keeping It Clean.”
44 Ølnes, Ubacht, and Janssen, “Blockchain in Government.”
45 Graglia and Mellon, “Blockchain and Property in 2018.”
46 Fintech, “Using Blockchain for Commercial Real Estate.”
47 Bauerle, “What Is.”
48 Stanley, “UN.”
49 Wong, “UN Is Using Ethereum’s Technology.”
50 chromaway.com, “Land Registry in the Blockchain – Testbed.”
51 Wong, “Sweden’s Blockchain-Powered Land Registry.”
52 Chandran, “Indian States Look to Digitize.”
53 Bhattacharya, “Blockchain Is Helping Build.”
54 Ibid.
55 Ibid.
56 Sai Baba, “Securing Land Records through Blockchain.”
57 Bhattacharya, “Blockchain Is Helping Build.”
58 Benjamin, Bhuvaneswari, and Rajan, “Bhoomi: ‘E–Governance.’”
59 Ramnani, “Transfer of Property Title Likely.”
60 ENS, “Andhra Government to Adopt Blockchain Tech.”
61 Vos, Lemmen, and Beentjes, “Blockchain-Based Land Administration.”
62 ENS, “Andhra Government to Adopt Blockchain Tech.”
63 Ramnani, “Transfer of Property Title Likely.”
64 Saibaba, “Securing Amaravati Smart City.”
65 Bhattacharya, “Blockchain Is Helping Build.”
66 Kshetri, “Fostering Startup Ecosystems in India.”
67 Battacharya, “India’s Government Wants to Kill Bitcoin.”
68 Akshatha, “Karnataka’s Famed Land Record Database.”
69 Lemieux, “Evaluating the Use of Blockchain.”
70 Kshetri, "Blockchain’s Roles in Strengthening Cybersecurity.”
71 Ibid.
72 Ledger Insights, “Indian State.”
73 Sai Baba, “Securing Land Records through Blockchain.”
74 Panchapagesan, “Can Blockchain Solve Land Record Problems?”
75 U. Rao, “Andhra Pradesh’s Literacy Rate.”
76 V. K. Rao, “AP Internet Penetration.”
77 Bhattacharya, “Blockchain Is Helping Build.”
78 Ibid.
79 ETGovernment, “Andhra Pradesh Govt to Digitize.”
80 Asia Insights, “This Indian City Is Embracing.”
81 Ibid.
82 McClure, “Wild, Wild Web.”
83 Meit, “National Strategy on Blockchain.”
84 Daniel and Speranza, “Role of Blockchain in Documenting.”
85 Ibid.
86 Ibid.
87 Express News Service, “AP Land Management Authority Constituted.”
88 Saibaba, “Securing Amaravati Smart City.”
89 APCRDA, “Amaravati Sustainable Capital City.”
90 Bhaskaran, “What Happens to Amaravati?”
91 Jitendra, “Andhra Pradesh Farmers.”
92 Ibid.
93 scmp.com, “Amaravati: The New Indian City.”
94 Bhaskaran, “What Happens to Amaravati?”
95 scmp.com, “Amaravati: The New Indian City.”
96 Jitendra, “Andhra Pradesh Farmers.”
97 Bhaskaran, “What Happens to Amaravati?”
98 Ibid.
99 Ibid.
100 Jitendra, “Andhra Pradesh Farmers.”
101 Benjamin and Raman, “Illegible Claims.”
102 Dwyer, "Blockchain: A Primer."
103 Bhaskaran, “What Happens to Amaravati?”
104 PTI, “Singapore Consortium ‘Exits’ Amaravati.”
105 Bhaskaran, “What Happens to Amaravati?”
106 Ibid.
107 Kshetri, "Indian Blockchain Landscape.”
108 Daniel and Speranza, “Role of Blockchain in Documenting.”
109 Szabo, “Formalizing and Securing Relationships.”
110 Sai Baba, “Securing Land Records through Blockchain.”
111 stalawfirm.com, “Overview: The Enforceability of Smart Contracts.”
112 Thakur et al., “Land Records on Blockchain.”
113 Girish, “Everything You Need to Know.”
114 Thontteh and Omirin, “Land Registration within the Framework.”
115 Kaushik, “Need to Build a Big Ecosystem.”
116 Agarwal, “Blockchain: India Likely to See.”
117 Murali, “Most Government Blockchain Projects.”
118 Poojay, “State Governments Embrace Blockchain.”
119 Ibid.
120 Kumar, “Blockchain: What Are the Implementation Challenges?”
121 Ibid.
122 Benjamin and Raman, “Illegible Claims.”
123 Malinger, “Blockchain Could Change Everything.”
124 Sai Baba, “Securing Land Records through Blockchain.”
125 Gurstein, “Open Data: Empowering the Empowered.”
126 Benjamin and Raman, “Illegible Claims.”
127 ENS, “Andhra Government to Adopt Blockchain Tech.”
128 Bimber, "Karl Marx and the Three Faces.”
129 Ibid.
130 Ølnes, Ubacht, and Janssen, “Blockchain in Government.”
131 Malinger, “Blockchain Could Change Everything.”
132 Vos, Lemmen, and Beentjes, “Blockchain-Based Land Administration.”
133 Swan, “Anticipating the Economic Benefits of Blockchain.”
134 Wong, “UN Is Using Ethereum’s Technology.”
135 Kurmanath, “In AP Capital, Blockchain Technology.”
136 Khatri, “Andhra Pradesh Govt. Signs MoU.”
137 Bhattacharya, “Blockchain Is Helping Build.”
138 ETGovernment, “Andhra Pradesh Govt to Digitize.”
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Nir Kshetri
Nir Kshetri is Professor at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a Research Fellow at Kobe University. He has authored 11 books and about 180 academic articles. His books and articles have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese and other languages. He has been ranked #6 in the world in research on blockchain in management (Technological Forecasting & Social Change 2021), the most published and second most cited author in research on blockchain in logistics and supply chain management (IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 2020), and the second most cited and sixth most published author in blockchain research (Central University of Tamil Nadu, 2020). His work has been featured by hundreds of media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Public Radio International, Scientific American and Bloomberg TV. He has provided consulting services to Asian Development Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat, various UN agencies and a number of private companies. His editorial roles include Computing Economics editor of Computer, IT Economics editor of IT Professional and Associate Editor of Electronic Commerce Research. In 2018, he gave a TED Talk about the potential roles of cryptocurrencies in fighting poverty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDo_Jlov9R4).