Titling in rural lands: a bibliometric analysis of the main publications

Abstract

Land regularization policies can have important impacts on rural development. Aiming to show the evolution of this topic in literature, this study presents a bibliometric analysis related to the topic of rural land titling, identifying the main related issues and the most important authors. The scientific basis used was Scopus with the term “rural land titling”, and then the CiteSpace and VOSviewer software tools were used to analyze the research results. A significant bibliographic production was identified regarding titling in China from 2009 onwards, but there was also a strong presence of the term “Brazil” next to the term “conservation”, indicating a connection between the environmental issue and rural land titling. The terms “property” and “land possession” are also strongly present, reflecting concerns about legal security and the role of institutions. Some authors point out the effects of titling on the credit market, soil conservation, productive investments, and labor occupation. Potential adverse effects were also detected in poorly conducted titling, as populations that are more vulnerable may suffer from a lack of information and be excluded from titling actions. This research did not detect a significant quantity of studies analyzing the effect of titled lands in Brazil after the large increase in land regularization carried out since 2009.