IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/9376.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Agyei-Holmes,Andrew
  • Buehren,Niklas
  • Goldstein,Markus P.
  • Osei,Robert Darko
  • Osei-Akoto,Isaac
  • Udry,Christopher Robert

Abstract

Smallholder farmers' investment decisions and the efficiency of resource allocation depend on the security of land tenure. This paper develops a simple model that captures essential institutional features of rural land markets in Ghana, including the dependence of future rights over land on current cultivation and land rental decisions. The model predictions guide the evaluation of a pilot land titling intervention that took place in an urbanizing area located in the Central Region of Ghana. The evaluation is based on a regression discontinuity design combined with three rounds of household survey data collected over a period of six years. The analysis finds strong markers for the program's success in registering land in the targeted program area. However, land registration does not translate into agricultural investments or increased credit taking. Instead, treated households decrease their amount of agricultural labor, accompanied by only a small reduction of agricultural production and no changes in productivity. In line with this result, households decrease their landholdings amid a surge in land valuations. The analysis uncovers important within-household differences in how women and men respond differentially to the program. There appears to be a general shift to nonfarm economic activities, and women's business profits increased considerably.

Suggested Citation

  • Agyei-Holmes,Andrew & Buehren,Niklas & Goldstein,Markus P. & Osei,Robert Darko & Osei-Akoto,Isaac & Udry,Christopher Robert, 2020. "The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9376, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9376
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/789321598973160923/pdf/The-Effects-of-Land-Title-Registration-on-Tenure-Security-Investment-and-the-Allocation-of-Productive-Resources-Evidence-from-Ghana.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Willa Friedman & Michael Kremer & Edward Miguel & Rebecca Thornton, 2016. "Education as Liberation?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(329), pages 1-30, January.
    2. Sandra E. Black, 1999. "Do Better Schools Matter? Parental Valuation of Elementary Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 577-599.
    3. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1994. "Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 772-793, September.
    4. John Giles & Ren Mu, 2018. "Village Political Economy, Land Tenure Insecurity, and the Rural to Urban Migration Decision: Evidence from China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(2), pages 521-544.
    5. David Mushinski, 1999. "An analysis of offer functions of banks and credit unions in Guatemala," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 88-112.
    6. Klaus Deininger, 2003. "Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15125, December.
    7. Besley, Timothy & Ghatak, Maitreesh, 2010. "Property Rights and Economic Development," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4525-4595, Elsevier.
    8. Boucher, Stephen R. & Barham, Bradford L. & Carter, Michael R., 2005. "The Impact of "Market-Friendly" Reforms on Credit and Land Markets in Honduras and Nicaragua," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 107-128, January.
    9. Jens Ludwig & Douglas L. Miller, 2007. "Does Head Start Improve Children's Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 159-208.
    10. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    11. Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & Michael Kremer, 2015. "Education, HIV, and Early Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2757-2797, September.
    12. Carol Newman & Finn Tarp & Katleen van den Broeck, 2015. "Property Rights and Productivity: The Case of Joint Land Titling in Vietnam," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 91(1), pages 91-105.
    13. Keele, Luke J. & Titiunik, Rocío, 2015. "Geographic Boundaries as Regression Discontinuities," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 127-155, January.
    14. Eduardo Zegarra & Javier Escobal & Ursula Aldana, 2008. "Titling, Credit Constraints and Rental Markets in Rural Peru: Exploring Channels and Conditioned Impacts," Research Department Publications 2012, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    15. Alain de Janvry & Kyle Emerick & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro & Elisabeth Sadoulet, 2015. "Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3125-3149, October.
    16. Dower, Paul & Potamites, Elizabeth, 2005. "Signaling Credit-Worthiness: Land Titles, Banking Practices and Access to Formal Credit in Indonesia," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19120, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    17. Deininger, Klaus & Chamorro, Juan Sebastian, 2004. "Investment and equity effects of land regularisation: the case of Nicaragua," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 101-116, March.
    18. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Goldstein, Markus, 2014. "Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: Pilot evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 262-275.
    19. Galiani, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2010. "Property rights for the poor: Effects of land titling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 700-729, October.
    20. Yixiao Sun, 2005. "Adaptive Estimation of the Regression Discontinuity Model," Econometrics 0506003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Hahn, Jinyong & Todd, Petra & Van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2001. "Identification and Estimation of Treatment Effects with a Regression-Discontinuity Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 201-209, January.
    22. Esther Duflo, 2012. "Women Empowerment and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1051-1079, December.
    23. Ernest Aryeetey & Christopher Udry, 2010. "Creating Property Rights: Land Banks in Ghana," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 130-134, May.
    24. Timothy G. Conley & Christopher R. Udry, 2010. "Learning about a New Technology: Pineapple in Ghana," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(1), pages 35-69, March.
    25. Markus Goldstein & Christopher Udry, 2008. "The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 981-1022, December.
    26. Fabian Barthel & Matthias Busse & Robert Osei, 2011. "The Characteristics and Determinants of FDI in Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 23(3), pages 389-408, July.
    27. Sebastian Galiani & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2011. "Land Property Rights and Resource Allocation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 329-345.
    28. Goldstein, Markus & Houngbedji, Kenneth & Kondylis, Florence & O'Sullivan, Michael & Selod, Harris, 2018. "Formalization without certification? Experimental evidence on property rights and investment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 57-74.
    29. Per Pettersson-Lidbom, 2008. "Do Parties Matter for Economic Outcomes? A Regression-Discontinuity Approach," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 6(5), pages 1037-1056, September.
    30. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 903-937, October.
    31. Udry, Christopher, 2010. "The economics of agriculture in Africa: Notes toward a research program," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 1-16, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Deininger,Klaus W. & Ali,Daniel Ayalew, 2022. "How Urban Land Titling and Registry Reform Affect Land and Credit Markets : Evidencefrom Lesotho," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10043, The World Bank.
    2. Dyer, Julian, 2023. "The fruits (and vegetables) of crime: Protection from theft and agricultural development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Dyer, Julian & Shapiro, Jeremy, 2023. "Pumps, prosperity and household power: Experimental evidence on irrigation pumps and smallholder farmers in Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. GIGNOUX, Jeremie & MACOURS, Karen & WREN-LEWIS, Liam, 2015. "Impact of land administration programs on agricultural productivity and rural development: existing evidence, challenges and new approaches," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 96(3), September.
    2. Alain de Janvry & Kyle Emerick & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro & Elisabeth Sadoulet, 2015. "Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3125-3149, October.
    3. Benito Arruñada & Marco Fabbri & Michael Faure, 2022. "Land Titling and Litigation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(1), pages 131-156.
    4. Adamie, Birhanu Addisu, 2021. "Land property rights and household take-up of development programs: Evidence from land certification program in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    5. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Goldstein, Markus, 2014. "Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: Pilot evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 262-275.
    6. Ayalew, Hailemariam & Admasu, Yeshwas & Chamberlin, Jordan, 2021. "Is land certification pro-poor? Evidence from Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    7. Sha, Wenbiao, 2023. "The political impacts of land expropriation in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    8. Mauricio Villamizar‐Villegas & Freddy A. Pinzon‐Puerto & Maria Alejandra Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2022. "A comprehensive history of regression discontinuity designs: An empirical survey of the last 60 years," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1130-1178, September.
    9. Deininger, Klaus & Xia, Fang & Kilic, Talip & Moylan, Heather, 2021. "Investment impacts of gendered land rights in customary tenure systems: Substantive and methodological insights from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. Xu, Huayu, 2021. "The long-term health and economic consequences of improved property rights," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    11. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Collin, Matthew & Deininger, Klaus & Dercon, Stefan & Sandefur, Justin & Zeitlin, Andrew, 2016. "Small price incentives increase women's access to land titles in Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 107-122.
    12. Liu, Shouying & Ma, Sen & Yin, Lijuan & Zhu, Jiong, 2023. "Land titling, human capital misallocation, and agricultural productivity in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    13. Maria Jones & Florence Kondylis & John Loeser & Jeremy Magruder, 2022. "Factor Market Failures and the Adoption of Irrigation in Rwanda," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(7), pages 2316-2352, July.
    14. Shengmin Sun & Qiang Chen, 2020. "Household responsibility system and China's agricultural: Growth revisited: Addressing endogenous institutional change," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 537-558, October.
    15. Lei Xu & Shixiang Chen & Shuliu Tian, 2022. "The Mechanism of Land Registration Program on Land Transfer in Rural China: Considering the Effects of Livelihood Security and Agricultural Management Incentives," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, August.
    16. Tseday Jemaneh Mekasha & Wilhelm Ngasamiaku & Remidius D. Ruhinduka & Finn Tarp, 2018. "Land tenure security and internal migration in Tanzania," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-158, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Anthony Harris & Anthony D'Agostino & Sara Litke-Farzaneh & Beryl Seiler & Matt Sloan, "undated". "Morocco Land Productivity Project: Evaluation Design Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports f3fc788501b64608b17e1cb23, Mathematica Policy Research.
    18. Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw, 2023. "Analysis of the Contribution of Land Registration to Sustainable Land Management in East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, May.
    19. Tseday Jemaneh Mekasha & Wilhelm Ngasamiaku & Remidius D. Ruhinduka & Finn Tarp, 2018. "Land tenure security and internal migration in Tanzania," WIDER Working Paper Series 158, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Huntington, Heather & Shenoy, Ajay, 2021. "Does insecure land tenure deter investment? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9376. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.