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creasing finance for land reform and post-landacquisition services, including land banks,land-for-debt schemes and land for taxes. 243) Facilitate Private Sector Involvement. Thestate needs to set the parameters within whichprivate sector investment can take place, andremove any disincentives to this process. Feesfor property transactions, which in some developingcountries can be as high as 30 percent,act as an unnecessary form of taxation thatinhibits the free exchange of land throughmarket mechanisms and excludes the poor.Official land taxes must also be set at an affordablelevel for the poor and subsidies andtax provisions that provide distorting privilegesto large-scale farmers should be removed. InMexico, for example, certain groups ‘prefer notto regularise the land for human settlementto evade having to paying land tax, which promotesinformality in land markets.’ 25 Investmentclimate surveys indicate that access toland was the main obstacle to conducting andexpanding business by 57 percent of the enterprisesinterviewed in Ethiopia, 35 percentin Bangladesh and 25 percent in Tanzania andKenya.4) Promote Property Rights through Individualand Corporate Ownership. Property law shouldoffer clear and simple options of legal personalityand corporate ownership for smallbusinesses and corporative associations of thepoor. Legal personality so designed opens upa wide range of possibilities of ownership byhuman individuals, by members of collectives,and by collectives. Pro-poor property rights systemsfacilitate the ability of people to pool andleverage modest resources and limit liabilitiesin case of business failure or exit of partners.One of the keys to economic success of smallentrepreneurs in the developing world is thelimited liability of business owners, thus offeringthe possibility of controlled failure withoutdisastrous economic consequences for thevulnerable individuals involved. This legal instrumentof limited corporate liability has to beextended to the poor micro-entrepreneurs andrural producers. It constitutes one of the mainadvantages of formality of corporate ownershipand can trump unavoidable disadvantages.5) Create Systems for Collateralising Moveableand Intangible Property. Although many of thecitizens of the developing world lack securerights to use and transfer real property, mostof them own some tangible (moveable) or intangibleproperty. 26 To the extent that this typeof property is held securely and can be used toaccess credit and to create and grow businesses,the poor will have increased opportunities.Experience in a variety of developing countries(Georgia, Madagascar, Colombia, Albania, Bosniaamong them) suggests that there are importantlegal reforms that would allow the poorto leverage movable and intangible property.6) Co-management of Natural Resources. The majorityof the rural poor depend to a large extenton non-arable resources such as forests, pastures,swamplands, and fishing grounds. Theseresources require careful management to avoidrent-seeking and corrupt practices that resultin environmental degradation and economicinefficiencies. The state should enhance theasset base of the poor by enabling communitybasedownership and management of privatecommons, but it will have to play the role ofconflict manager among the communities andamong individuals. In the case of fossil energyresources requiring capital intensive extraction,treatment and distribution, the state shouldutilise transparent and fair auction procedureswhen involving the private sector, linked to71