Chapter 11 - Eminent Domain

Abstract

Eminent domain is the power of government to take private land for public purpose, or in the public interest. Land taken for public purpose may be used for building a road or a school, and land taken in the public interest may be given to another private entity to develop a large-scale agriculture project. The government must pay to the land owner, just compensation measured as the fair market value of the land. The power of eminent domain is defined in the constitutions of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. Eminent domain solves the holdout problem in bargaining theory. Court cases concerning eminent domain have addressed the fairness in taking land from one private party and giving it to another private party for development purposes, the calculation and adequacy of compensation, and sometimes the change in the use of the land for a purpose different from the intended use of the land when it was originally taken.