It is interesting to think about how property rights emerge and why private vs. collective property rights come about in different places.

One interesting thing to think about is collective property which is not owned by the government, but by a small group of people. Elinor Ostrom has some very interesting papers on this topic. One particularly relevant piece of Ostrom's is in regard to Nepal and community-owned forest land.

http://www.umich.edu/~ifri/Publications/R011-20.pdf

Two commonly cited papers on property rights are also very good reads. Harold Demsetz, "Toward a Theory of Private Property Rights" and Ronald Coase's "The Problem of Social Cost" explain how private property rights work to allow for increased trade and cooperation.

http://classes.agecon.wsu.edu/EconS430/Summer2010-Chouinard/readings/dem...

http://home.cerge-ei.cz/ortmann/UpcesCourse/Coase%20-%20The%20problem%20...

Enjoy!