This land is her land: A comparative analysis of gender, institutions, and landownership

Most analyses of the gender gaps in landownership are based on one or a few countries in which little discussion is provided of the institutional context. Yet, the institutions within a given context will certainly influence both men’s and women’s landownership. In this paper, we analyze data from individual men and women respondents to the Demographic and Health Surveys in 45 low- and middle-income countries combined with 28 indicators at the national level of relevant institutions. To measure the associations with institutions, we use indicators of the structure of the economy, land market efficiency, women’s labor force participation, education of women and girls, gender equality, women’s property rights, social norms, marital property rights and inheritance, women’s political voice, and the extent of indigenous and communal property in the country. We do not find a clear association between higher GDP and structural transformation in the economy and a smaller gender land gap. This suggests that economic growth and development alone will not resolve the gender land gaps. The indicators that proxy for more gender equality in the labor force, educational attainment, and legal and social norms are all associated with a lower gender gap in landownership.