Rental shares of agricultural land are increasing in many countries, as are soil degradation and erosion. Theory suggests that these trends may be correlated, yet empirical findings are ambiguous. This research investigates the relationship between land tenure and farmers' soil management and...

Does ownership status of agricultural land determine farmers' soil use behaviour? Why (not)? We investigate this old question using multiple methods and data. We apply econometric analysis to plot-level data to determine whether planting decisions differ between rented and owned plots. In...

Land registration and titling in Africa has been seen as a means of legal empowerment of the poor that can protect smallholders' and pastoralists' rights of access to land and other land-based resources. Land registration is also on the ethnojustice agenda in parts of Africa and beyond. Yet...

In this paper we study the impact of tenure security on rural to urban migration of household members over the age of 15. Using three waves of the Tanzanian National Panel Survey (NPS) data, we show that tenure security is associated with lower probability of migration in rural Tanzania. This...

Governing land tenure and particularly ownership rights to land in post-socialist Russia is a long-term process that involves changes in norms, rules and administrative procedures. We analyse the land privatization reform in the context of evolving institutional limitations caused by the...

Tenure security and subsistence needs influence the choice between unexploited topsoil and investment in children's human capital as the mode of transfer of wealth. We develop an overlapping generations model of a representative rural household to inform this choice. Using a unique...

This issue brief is intended to guide efforts to build more resilient communities both pre-disaster and during the different phases of post-disaster programming, including relief, recovery, and reconstruction. Stronger land tenure arrangements mitigate the impact of disasters on communities....

In the developing world, collective land titling has become an important tool for recognizing the historical presence of ethnic communities and safeguarding their rights to occupy and manage their territories. However, little is known about the average impact of these titling processes on the...

Chinese customs and law have traditionally prevented a land seller from conveying outright title to a buyer. The ancient custom of dian, which persisted until the 1949 Revolution, gave a land seller and his lineage an immutable option to buy back sold land at the original sale price. This...

Economic development at both the domestic and global levels is associated with increasing tensions which are inextricably linked to the meaning and allocation of property rights, which has a great impact on appropriation of resources and may lead to different paths of development. “Taking”...