Special  Issue

QA – Rivista dell’Associazione Rossi–Doria

Call for Papers

Large scale foreign acquisitions of land in developing countries.

Risks, opportunities and new actors.

Edited by

QA - Rivista dell’Associazione Rossi-Doria invites the submission of manuscripts (in English) addressing the issue of large scale land acquisitions by foreign investors in developing countries.

Rationale

The last few years have seen a surge of interest in foreign acquisitions of land (mainly for agricultural use) in developing countries. This wave of foreign direct investments (FDI) in land, dominated by international investors other than “traditional” ones, has led to fears of “land grabbing”. This concern is motivated by several reasons. First, the deals involve a crucial asset, land, usually on a very large scale and predominantly in the context of complex and often unclear structures of property rights; second, a number of weak stakeholders may have insufficient “voice” vis-à-vis their governments; third, governments may have weak planning and regulatory abilities especially vis-à-vis international investors. Last, but not least, foreign investors are often oriented to the agricultural production for export to their home markets.

The phenomenon of land acquisitions by foreign investors emerged mainly through media reports and then prompted case studies analysis. There is, however, the need to improve the understanding of recent trends through research in a number of domains including: the systematic analysis of regional/country data; the determinants of FDI flows (such as: investments profitability; location choice; land internalisation); the determinants, characteristics and impact of the increasing activity of private sector finance in land acquisitions; the specific socioeconomic implications of acquisitions on a large scale; the possible patterns of regulation, including self regulation through corporate social responsibility; the merits of alternative business models for large scale investments in agriculture.

Main Topics of Interest:

• Analysis of country/regional data and trends
• New Actors: the financial sector and land in developing countries
• Socio-economic impact of large acquisitions
• Regulation of large scale investments in land
• Alternative business models

Timeline & Planning:

◦ Deadline for paper submission:       15.05.2012

◦ Feedback from reviewers:               10.07.2012

◦ Revised manuscripts:                      20.09.2012

◦ Acceptance notification:                           20.10.2012

Submissions should be addressed to one of the editors (Subject: QA_Land_Call)

For authors:

All manuscripts should be preferably in Open Document Format (Word format is also allowed). All manuscripts will be subject to the usual high standards of peer review at QA - Rivista dell’ Associazione Rossi-Doria. Each paper will undergo double blind review.

There is no standard length for articles but 8,000 words, including notes and references, is a useful target. For other author guidelines and for previous issues of the journal please see http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario.asp?IDRivista=25&lingua=en

Feel free to contact one of the editors if any further information is needed.