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Land Reform, Distribution of Land and Institutions in Rural Ethiopia: Analysis of Inequality with Dirty Data-super- 1

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  • Bereket Kebede

Abstract

There are two explicitly or implicitly and widely accepted beliefs about the distribution of land in Ethiopia after the reform of 1975. First, land distribution in rural Ethiopia is highly equitable, for example compared with other African countries, where private ownership exists. Second, the current land distribution pattern is basically a result of allocation after the reform; in other words, pre-reform tenures do not help us understand post-reform land distribution. This paper questions both these beliefs. Using formal inequality indexes and a methodology that explicitly considers measurement errors, the empirical results indicate that both inter- and intra-regional inequalities are high; inequality in the distribution of land is comparable with that in other African countries. A regression-based decomposition indicates that distribution of ox ownership and female-headship are important factors affecting inequality. This paper also argues that the post-reform distribution is likely influenced by pre-reform tenures and calls for a more detailed historical analysis. Copyright 2008 The author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.

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  • Bereket Kebede, 2008. "Land Reform, Distribution of Land and Institutions in Rural Ethiopia: Analysis of Inequality with Dirty Data-super- 1," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 17(4), pages 550-577, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:17:y:2008:i:4:p:550-577
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jae/ejm041
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Wisdom Akpalu & Mintewab Bezabih, 2014. "Tenure Insecurity, Climate Variability, and Renting-Out Decisions Among Female Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-140, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Kang, Munsu & Schwab, Benjamin & Yu, Jisang, 2020. "Gender differences in the relationship between land ownership and managerial rights: Implications for intrahousehold farm labor allocation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Akpalu, Wisdom & Bezabih, Mintewab, 2014. "Tenure insecurity, climate variability, and renting-out decisions among female small-holder farmers in Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series 140, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Congdon Fors, Heather & Houngbedji, Kenneth & Lindskog, Annika, 2019. "Land certification and schooling in rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 190-208.
    5. Di Falco, Salvatore & Veronesi, Marcella, 2014. "Climatic anomalies and conflicts: the role of tenure security on land disputes," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 183083, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Dokken, Therere, 2013. "Land tenure in Tigray: How large is the gender bias?," CLTS Working Papers 5/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    7. Mintewab Bezabih & Stein Holden & Andrea Mannberg, 2016. "The Role of Land Certification in Reducing Gaps in Productivity between Male- and Female-Owned Farms in Rural Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(3), pages 360-376, March.
    8. Quang Tran, Tuyen, 2012. "A review on the link between nonfarm activities, land and rural livelihoods in Vietnam and developing countries," MPRA Paper 55850, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Nov 2013.
    9. Wisdom Akpalu & Mintewab Bezabih, 2015. "Tenure Insecurity, Climate Variability and Renting out Decisions among Female Small-Holder Farmers in Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-16, June.

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