Private property and its protection is among the
cornerstones of a free society. It bestows upon the individuals, households and
enterprises exclusive rights what to do with their private property like a car
or a piece of land -- use it, sell it, rent it out, or donate it.
When private property rights are unprotected, society can
quickly degenerate into chaos and disorder. Gangs and bullies can confiscate
other people’s houses, cars, or shops, and the enterprising people will flee
and escape such society and only the lazy, bullies, and opportunists will stay.
Measuring property rights protection across many
countries has been done by the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), a Washington
DC-based think tank. It produces the International Property Rights Index (IPRI)
annual reports and partners with independent, nongovernment and market-oriented
think tanks and institutes from many countries around the world in spreading
the philosophy and measurement of protecting private property rights.
The IPRI 2016 Report was released in partnership with 102
independent think tanks from 70 countries and it was launched on Aug. 10, 2016
in Delhi, India.
PRA Executive Director, Lorenzo Montanari summarized the
value of this exercise:
“Property rights are the linchpin of a prosperous
society. They say what is yours, what is not, and how to exchange with others
in order to create value... that is why they are human rights and essential to
individual liberty.”
IPRI is derived by getting the score (1 to 10, 10 being
the highest) of each country covered in three major areas:
(1) Legal and Political Environment (LP), which covers
judicial independence, rule of law, control of corruption and political
stability of a country or economy.
(2) Physical Property Rights (PPR), which includes
registration and protection of physical properties, access to loans.
(3) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), that includes IPR
protection, especially patents and copyrights.
Thus, countries with high scores in two or all three of
these areas will have a high IPRI overall score and global rank.
Below are the scores and global rank of ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and their neighbors in the
region. Three ASEAN countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, and Laos -- were not
included in the IPRI annual reports, mainly for lack of reliable data for
comparative purposes. Myanmar was included only starting 2015.
The table show the following:
1. The more developed the economy is (Singapore, New
Zealand, Japan,...), the higher the IPRI score and global rank. Which implies
that as private property is better recognized and protected, there are more
economic activities that occur.
2. Emerging markets of the ASEAN except Thailand have
improving global rankings: Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. The
decline in Thailand’s ranking coincided with the rise of the military
leadership there.
3. The Philippines experienced the biggest improvement
among the emerging markets in the region, from 77th in 2013 it rose to 64th in
2016. Its overall score of 5.15 in 2016 is a result of its low score in LP of
only 4.15 but compensated by its high score of 6.07 in PPR, while its IPR score
in IPR was a modest 5.23.
The continuing uncertainties in human rights protection
due to the ongoing extrajudicial killings (EJKs) related to the drugs war of the
Duterte administration may have some negative repercussion in the country’s
future low scores and position in rule of law and judicial independence. These
two are part of the Legal and Political environment (LP). There is danger of a
possible decline in the Philippines’ overall IPRI score and global rank if
these uncertainties continue for long.
The main functions, the raison d’etre or reason for
existence of governments are to enforce the rule of law, to protect the
citizens’ right to life (against aggressors, murderers, rapists, etc.), right
to private property (against thieves and destroyers of properties), and right
to liberty (against censorship, bullies and despots).
Private property rights as human rights are good
incentives for the people to become productive citizens and stay away from
being dependent on state welfare. Governments should stay the course in
securing this philosophy and veer away from forcing equality by penalizing the
hard working with high, multiple taxes, fees and permits.
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the President of Minimal
Government Thinkers and a SEANET Fellow. Both institutes are among the 102
independent organizations and partners of PRA in producing the IPRI 2016
Report. minimalgovernment@gmail.com
See also:
BWorld 26, IPRI 2015 in APEC economies, November 19, 2015
BWorld 45, Asia Liberty Forum and property rights, February 29, 2016
BWorld 78, If the US becomes protectionist, who loses? August 11, 2016
BWorld 79, Brownouts, coal power and the electricity market, August 21, 2016
BWorld 79, Brownouts, coal power and the electricity market, August 21, 2016
BWorld 80, Declining share of agriculture in GDP, September 11, 2016
Fat-Free Econ 5: Property Rights and Policy Lefts, April 04, 2012
IPR and Innovation 30, More on IPRI 2015 launching in KL last year, February 01, 2016
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