Gender differentials in homeownership in Latin America

The gender of the household head has often been treated as an exogenous determinant of housing tenure. We argue that several determinants of homeownership also affect household headship and that failing to explicitly account for this endogeneity leads to inconsistent results. Using individual level data for Chile, Honduras and Nicaragua we show that although on average women have lower probability of being homeowners, those women that head their families (single, separated or divorced) have larger probabilities of attaining homeownership. Thus household level analysis should control for the endogeneity of household headship in order to properly address the gender effect on housing tenure. We estimate a bivariate probit model and find evidence that all else equal female headed families have lower probability of owning their home in Latin American countries. Without the endogeneity control this evidence was not present in eight countries.