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Is women's ownership of land a panacea in developing countries? Evidence from land-owning farm households in Malawi

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  • Sumon K. Bhaumik
  • Ralitza Dimova
  • Ira N. Gang

Abstract

Our analysis of a rich representative household survey for Malawi, where patrilineal and matrilineal institutions coexist, suggests that (a) in matrilineal societies the likelihood of cash crop cultivation by a household increases with the extent of land owned (or de facto controlled) by males, and (b) and cultivation of cash crops increases household welfare. The policy implication is that facilitating female ownership of assets through informal and formal institutions does not, on its own, increase welfare, if women do not have access to complementary resources that are needed to generate income from those assets.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumon K. Bhaumik & Ralitza Dimova & Ira N. Gang, 2013. "Is women's ownership of land a panacea in developing countries? Evidence from land-owning farm households in Malawi," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1055, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2013-1055
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    Cited by:

    1. 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).
    2. Bizoza, Alfred R. & Opio-Omoding, James, 2021. "Assessing the impacts of land tenure regularization: Evidence from Rwanda and Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Bhaumik, Sumon K. & Gang, Ira N. & Yun, Myeong-Su, 2017. "Poverty's Deconstruction: Beyond the Visible," IZA Discussion Papers 11160, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Theis, Sophie & Doss, Cheryl R., 2017. "Women’s land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: A framework and review of available evidence," IFPRI discussion papers 1663, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Burrone, Sara & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia, 2023. "Do Households Where Women Own Land Fare Better for Food Security? Evidence for Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 16382, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Sara Ratna Qanti & Alexandra Peralta & Di Zeng, 2022. "Social norms and perceptions drive women’s participation in agricultural decisions in West Java, Indonesia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(2), pages 645-662, June.
    7. Martin Mwale & Dieter von Fintel & Anja Smith, 2022. "School drop out and farm input subsidies: gender and kinship heterogeneity in Malawi," Working Papers 01/2022, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    8. Tahmina Sultana & Kazi Tanvir Mahmud & Md. Moniruzzaman & Mohammad Tareque, 2024. "Impact of Access to Land on Women’s Economic Well-Being: An Empirical Evidence From Rural Bangladesh," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(1), pages 21582440241, January.
    9. Valeria Strusi & Sara Balestri, 2025. "Land, Women and Development: a Systematic Review of Causal Evidence," DISEIS - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo dis2502, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo (DISEIS).
    10. Ebelechukwu Maduekwe & Walter Timo de Vries & Gertrud Buchenrieder, 2020. "Identifying Human Recognition Deprived Women: Evidence from Malawi and Peru," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(8), pages 1594-1614, July.
    11. Rutakumwa, Rwamahe & Pain, Adam & Bukenya, Dominic & Tumwekwase, Grace & Ssembajja, Fatuma & Seeley, Janet, 2017. "Gender, land and responses to health and environmental shocks in rural South Western Uganda," Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender), Africa Centre for Gender, Social Research and Impact Assessment, vol. 2(2), April.
    12. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Doss, Cheryl & Theis, Sophie, 2019. "Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 72-82.
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    14. Peter Agamile & Ralitza Dimova & Jennifer Golan, 2021. "Crop Choice, Drought and Gender: New Insights from Smallholders’ Response to Weather Shocks in Rural Uganda," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 829-856, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    female ownership of assets; informal institutions; cash crops; household welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • O2 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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