The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana
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, includ...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/789321598973160923/The-Effects-of-Land-Title-Registration-on-Tenure-Security-Investment-and-the-Allocation-of-Productive-Resources-Evidence-from-Ghana http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34423 |
| Summary: | 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. |
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