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...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| 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 |
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okr-10986-344232022-09-20T00:10:32Z The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana Agyei-Holmes, Andrew Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Osei, Robert Osei-Akoto, Isaac Udry, Christopher SMALLHOLDERS LAND TITLING RESOURCE ALLOCATION LAND TENURE RURAL LAND MARKET LAND RENTAL AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT NON-FARM ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AFRICA GENDER POLICY GENDER INNOVATION LAB WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE Africa Gender Policy Africa Gender Innovation Lab Women and Property Rights 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. 2020-09-03T15:06:12Z 2020-09-03T15:06:12Z 2020-09 Working Paper 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 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9376 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Ghana |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
SMALLHOLDERS LAND TITLING RESOURCE ALLOCATION LAND TENURE RURAL LAND MARKET LAND RENTAL AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT NON-FARM ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AFRICA GENDER POLICY GENDER INNOVATION LAB WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE Africa Gender Policy Africa Gender Innovation Lab Women and Property Rights |
| spellingShingle |
SMALLHOLDERS LAND TITLING RESOURCE ALLOCATION LAND TENURE RURAL LAND MARKET LAND RENTAL AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT NON-FARM ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AFRICA GENDER POLICY GENDER INNOVATION LAB WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE Africa Gender Policy Africa Gender Innovation Lab Women and Property Rights Agyei-Holmes, Andrew Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Osei, Robert Osei-Akoto, Isaac Udry, Christopher The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Ghana |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9376 |
| description |
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. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Agyei-Holmes, Andrew Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Osei, Robert Osei-Akoto, Isaac Udry, Christopher |
| author_facet |
Agyei-Holmes, Andrew Buehren, Niklas Goldstein, Markus Osei, Robert Osei-Akoto, Isaac Udry, Christopher |
| author_sort |
Agyei-Holmes, Andrew |
| title |
The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana |
| title_short |
The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana |
| title_full |
The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana |
| title_fullStr |
The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources : Evidence from Ghana |
| title_sort |
effects of land title registration on tenure security, investment and the allocation of productive resources : evidence from ghana |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
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 |
| _version_ |
1764480866931703808 |