Frithjof Kuhnen (1996):
Synthesis of Current State of and Trends in Land Tenure and Land Policy in Asia

3.2.2 Landed Property Belonging to the State

In this case, the full ownership rights are held by the state, as other land is held by private owners. The state partly uses its land itself. This is usually the case when public interest requires the land to be used for purposes other than for private profit (water catchment areas, recreation areas, experimental farms, etc.) and when the location requires a land use that only yields an income after a very long time such as forestry. In other cases, the state rents its property to private persons, smallholders as well as large farmers or groups for use.

Until recently, state property was common in formerly socialistic countries. This corresponded with the state's political ideology of preventing exploitation and ground rent, and allowed the state to have complete control over investment and labour input as well as the planning of production.

In pre-colonial times, the common form of tenure was the state's (king's) property being cultivated by peasants who held usufruct rights. The effect on state property varies: for marginal land, forest land, and land of public interest, it is probably the best type of tenure. State land is usually easy to acquire for project requirements since both state and project have common interests. If state land is rented to private cultivators, the rights of use are often granted for quite long periods so that incentives for work and investments exist. The situation is different if the rights of individuals are limited, as after some of the land reforms, or do not exist, and the peasants are mere labourers. In such cases, there is a lack of incentives as in the former sowchoses.