(De facto) historical ethnic borders and land tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa

Emilio Depetris-Chauvin, Ömer Özak

We study the role of proximity to historical ethnic borders in determining individual land ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following an instrumental variable strategy, we document that individuals have a lower likelihood of owning land near historical ethnic borders. In particular, the likelihood of owning land decreases by 15 percentage points, i.e., about 1/3 of the mean rate of landownership, for rural migrants who move from 57km (90th percentile) to 2 km (10th percentile) from the border. This result aligns with the view that competition for land is stronger and property rights are weaker close to historical ethnic borders in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Year of publication:	March 2023
Authors:	Depetris-Chauvin, Emilio ; Özak, Ömer
Publisher:	Bonn, Germany : IZA - Institute of Labor Economics
Subject:	land ownership \| borders \| property rights \| historical homelands \| development \| Africa \| Voronoi Tessellation \| Thiessen Tessellation \| Bodenrecht \| Land tenure \| Sachenrecht \| Law of property \| Afrika \| Subsahara-Afrika \| Sub-Saharan Africa \| Entwicklung \| Economic development \| Ethnische Gruppe \| Ethnic group \| Grundeigentum \| Real property \| Grenzregion \| Border region \| Agrarstruktur \| Agricultural structure \| Zentralafrika \| Central Africa

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Extent:	1 Online-Ressource (circa 18 Seiten) Illustrationen
Series:	Discussion paper series / IZA. - Bonn : IZA, ZDB-ID 2120053-1. - Vol. no. 16047
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Type of publication (narrower categories):	Graue Literatur ; Non-commercial literature ; Arbeitspapier ; Working Paper
Language:	English
Other identifiers:	hdl:10419/272674 [Handle]
Classification:	D74 - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances ; N57 - Africa; Oceania ; O13 - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products ; O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements ; O43 - Institutions and Growth ; P48 - Legal Institutions; Property Rights ; Q15 - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation ; Q34 - Natural Resources and Domestic and International Conflicts
Source:	ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014249737