Rentiers and Their Frontiers: The Power Struggles of Institutional Landownership in Its Regulatory Environment

Hanna Doose

Land acquisition and ownership for investment purposes is an attractive venture not only for wealth storage but also for growing assets. Some recent studies estimate that up to two thirds of global net worth lies in the different forms of landed property (one of the biggest chunks in the residential sector). Landed property is often – and increasingly – integrated into financial channels. This dissertation project seeks to understand the peculiarities of the financialization of land and how these influence the power of institutional landowners in the regulatory environment. It aims to (a) advance knowledge on land financialization processes and respective rentiers; (b) show the influence of heterogeneity in business’s asset liquidity in both financialization and business power dynamics; and (c) chart the impact of a spatially embedded trajectory of financialization on the different forms of power of financial and business actors and their coalition formation. Adopting a qualitative approach by focusing on several case studies, the project relies substantially on expert interviews in combination with qualitative document analysis. Project duration: October 2020 to March 2024.