InThe Development of Freedom(2001) Amartya Sen wrote that economic freedom, the freedom to choose between different activities, is fundamental to development. De Soto pointed out inThe Mystery of Capital(2003) that the formation of capital is crucial to the development of a country towards the industrialised western model, and the same author stressed the important contribution of the cadastre. The World Bank and national development agencies have thus supported cadastral projects in many countries. De Soto assumes that accumulation of wealth lies primarily in the appropriation and improvement of land with buildings. The value of land and buildings in western societies is a major investment comparable to investment in human capital; and each amount to five to ten times Gross Domestic Product.
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