The Formation of Beliefs: Evidence from the Allocation of Land Titles to Squatters
Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky
,
1
(
122
)
Quarterly Journal of Economics
209-241
February
2007
Abstract
We study the formation of beliefs in a squatter settlement in the outskirts of Buenos Aires exploiting a natural experiment that induced an allocation of property rights that is exogenous to the characteristics of the squatters. There are significant differences in the beliefs that squatters with and without land titles declare to hold. Lucky squatters who end up with legal titles report beliefs closer to those that favor the workings of a free market.