Ayse Pamuk

Informal Institutional Arrangements in Credit, Land Markets and Infrastructure Delivery in Trinidad

Informal institutional arrangements, permeating both formal and informal housing settlements, allow markets to function in developing countries. Yet their economic, social and policy impacts are largely unexamined. Insights from the new institutional economics literature are used to show the significance of informal institutional arrangements in credit, land markets and infrastructure delivery. The analysis is grounded in the experience of Trinidad and Tobago, with empirical information drawn from fieldwork research done in 1993 and 1997. Research findings show that informal institutions of cooperation (e.g. sou-sou, CBOs) support transactions by reducing transaction costs, by lowering risk and by providing mechanisms to cope with uncertainty. They are therefore used instead of formal institutions. Policy-makers should expect intense utilization of such locally designed institutions that use social capital in the process of land and housing market reform in developing countries. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2000.

Alleviating Urban Poverty in a Global City: New Trends in Upgrading Rio-de-Janeiro's Favelas

Abstract In contrast to the “eradication and resettlement” approach of the 1960s and 1970s, and the implementation of isolated public-works projects in the 1980s, the 1990s in Rio have brought a comprehensive upgrading approach to the favelas. Such local innovations in Brazil began to emerge after the enactment of the 1988 Constitution that gave municipalities the power to formulate urban policies and laws at the local level. We examine the Favela–Bairro Program, in particular, highlighting its five central features: (1) projects designed to integrate favelas with planned neighborhoods (bairros), (2) urban redevelopment plans that embody a comprehensive approach, (3) an emphasis on coordination among municipal agencies, (4) utilization of a participatory approach, and (5) the use of private sector firms in executing public works projects.

Book Review: Min Zhou: Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2009. 328 pp.

The author displays a breadth of knowledge of housing issues in a variety of different international contexts. This book is an impressive effort at bringing together the state of knowledge on housing and economic development. It, however, does not pay sufficient attention to distributional issues, the drawbacks of overemphasizing housing, and challenges arising from the historical marginalization of particular groups in various nations.