Using registry data to assess gender-differentiated land and credit market effects of urban land policy reform: Evidence from Lesotho

While well-defined urban property rights to support land and financial markets are widely considered to be essential for economic development, many studies using household-based data to study titling programs’ impact yield inconclusive results. We use a 2010–13 titling program in Maseru to argue that this may partly be attributable to a failure of using administrative data and the fact that impacts of policy change that affect treatment and control are not identified in a standard difference in differences (DID) approach. Registry data show significant and sustained changes in quality of service delivery; female land ownership; and volume of registered land sales and mortgages due to the project. Econometric analysis supports this and points to significant effects of regulatory reform. We use this as a basis to discuss ways of combining registry and household survey data to better analyze this type of interventions.