IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000089/014573.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Collective Property Leads to Household Investments: Lessons from Land Titling in Afro-Colombian Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Ximena Pena
  • María Alejandra Vélez
  • Juan Camilo Cárdenas
  • Natalia Perdomo

Abstract

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 well-being of these communities. In this paper we attempt to estimate the impact of collective land titling in territories inhabited by Afro-descendent communities in Colombia. Using an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) estimation, we compare rural districts in titled areas with rural districts in untitled areas that are similar in all the relevant observable characteristics. We find that the collective titling process in the Chocó region has caused an increase in average household per capita income, larger investments in housing, higher attendance rates among children in primary education, and a decrease in housing overcrowding. Our results suggest that collective land titling creates a more secure natural resource base and a longer time horizon for households in collective territories, which leads to investment in their private physical and human capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Ximena Pena & María Alejandra Vélez & Juan Camilo Cárdenas & Natalia Perdomo, 2016. "Collective Property Leads to Household Investments: Lessons from Land Titling in Afro-Colombian Communities," Documentos CEDE 14573, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:014573
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstream/handle/1992/8644/dcede2016-13.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deininger, Klaus & Binswanger, Hans, 1999. "The Evolution of the World Bank's Land Policy: Principles, Experience, and Future Challenges," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 14(2), pages 247-276, August.
    2. Alix-Garcia, Jennifer & de Janvry, Alain & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2003. "A Tale of Two Communities: Explaining Deforestation in Mexico," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt42z699vk, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    3. Galiani, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2010. "Property rights for the poor: Effects of land titling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 700-729, October.
    4. Alix-Garcia, Jennifer & Janvry, Alain de & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2005. "A Tale of Two Communities: Explaining Deforestation in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 219-235, February.
    5. Lawson-Remer, Terra, 2013. "Do Stronger Collective Property Rights Improve Household Welfare? Evidence from a Field Study in Fiji," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 207-225.
    6. Edella Schlager & Elinor Ostrom, 1992. "Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(3), pages 249-262.
    7. Boucher, Stephen R. & Barham, Bradford L. & Carter, Michael R., 2005. "The Impact of "Market-Friendly" Reforms on Credit and Land Markets in Honduras and Nicaragua," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 107-128, January.
    8. Deininger, Klaus & Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Holden, Stein & Zevenbergen, Jaap, 2008. "Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Process, Initial Impact, and Implications for Other African Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1786-1812, October.
    9. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    10. Alix-Garcia, Jennifer, 2007. "A spatial analysis of common property deforestation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 141-157, March.
    11. Steven Lawry & Cyrus Samii & Ruth Hall & Aaron Leopold & Donna Hornby & Farai Mtero, 2017. "The impact of land property rights interventions on investment and agricultural productivity in developing countries: a systematic review," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 61-81, January.
    12. repec:bla:kyklos:v:42:y:1989:i:3:p:319-45 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Barry C. Field, 1989. "The Evolution of Property Rights," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 319-345, August.
    14. Michael Taylor & Sara Singleton, 1993. "The Communal Resource: Transaction Costs and the Solution of Collective Action Problems," Politics & Society, , vol. 21(2), pages 195-214, June.
    15. Sethi, Rajiv & Somanathan, E, 1996. "The Evolution of Social Norms in Common Property Resource Use," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 766-788, September.
    16. McKenzie, David, 2012. "Beyond baseline and follow-up: The case for more T in experiments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 210-221.
    17. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00783786 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Jonathan Conning & Partha Deb, 2007. "Impact Evaluation for Land Property Rights Reforms," Economics Working Paper Archive at Hunter College 419, Hunter College Department of Economics.
    19. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 903-937, October.
    20. Arun Agrawal & Elinor Ostrom, 2001. "Collective Action, Property Rights, and Decentralization in Resource Use in India and Nepal," Politics & Society, , vol. 29(4), pages 485-514, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Iván Higuera-Mendieta, 2016. "Persistencias históricas y discontinuidades espaciales: territorios comunitarios en el Pacífico colombiano," Documentos de trabajo sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 239, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    2. Vélez, Maria Alejandra & Robalino, Juan & Cardenas, Juan Camilo & Paz, Andrea & Pacay, Eduardo, 2020. "Is collective titling enough to protect forests? Evidence from Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Pacific region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Steven B. Caudill & Stephanie O. Crofton & João Ricardo Faria & Neela D. Manage & Franklin G. Mixon & Mary Greer Simonton, 2020. "Property confiscation and the intergenerational transmission of education in post-1948 Eastern Europe," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 1-41, July.
    4. Dagdeviren, Hulya & Elangovan, Arthanari & Parimalavelli, Ramanathan, 2023. "Land tenure and food security in South India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    5. Ivan D. Lobo & Maria Alejandra Vélez, 2020. "From strong leadership to active community engagement: effective resistance to illicit economies in Afro Colombian collective territories," Documentos CEDE 17908, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    6. Isael Fierros-González & Jorge Mora-Rivera, 2022. "Drivers of Livelihood Strategies: Evidence from Mexico’s Indigenous Rural Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-16, June.
    7. Bonilla-Mejía, Leonardo & Higuera-Mendieta, Iván, 2019. "Protected Areas under Weak Institutions: Evidence from Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 585-596.
    8. Paola Palacios & Germán Lambardi, 2020. "Títulos colectivos, violencia contra civiles y conflicto armado interno en Colombia," Revista Economía y Región, Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, vol. 14(2), pages 1-14, December.
    9. Joaquín Daniel Ramírez-Cabarcas, 2022. "Can collective property rights foster development? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 20327, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    10. Fox, Jonathan, 2020. "Contested terrain: International development projects and countervailing power for the excluded," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jérémie GIGNOUX & Karen MACOURS & Liam WREN-LEWIS, 2015. "Impact of land administration programs on agricultural productivity and rural development: existing evidence, challenges and new approaches," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 96(3), pages 467-498.
    2. repec:ags:aaea22:335973 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Thomas Vendryes, 2014. "Peasants Against Private Property Rights: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 971-995, December.
    4. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Doss, Cheryl & Theis, Sophie, 2019. "Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 72-82.
    5. Ayalew, Hailemariam & Admasu, Yeshwas & Chamberlin, Jordan, 2021. "Is land certification pro-poor? Evidence from Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    6. Wenli Cheng & Nan Zhou & Longyao Zhang, 2021. "How does land titling affect credit demand, supply, access, and rationing: Evidence from China," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(3), pages 383-414, September.
    7. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Doss, Cheryl R. & Theis, Sophie, 2017. "Women’s land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: A framework and review of available evidence," IFPRI discussion papers 1663, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Elinor Ostrom, 2003. "How Types of Goods and Property Rights Jointly Affect Collective Action," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 15(3), pages 239-270, July.
    9. Peter Narh & Cosmas Kombat Lambini & Matthew Sabbi & Van Dien Pham & Trung Thanh Nguyen, 2016. "Land Sector Reforms in Ghana, Kenya and Vietnam: A Comparative Analysis of Their Effectiveness," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Goldstein, Markus, 2014. "Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: Pilot evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 262-275.
    11. Jennifer M. Alix-Garcia & Elizabeth N. Shapiro & Katharine R. E. Sims, 2012. "Forest Conservation and Slippage: Evidence from Mexico’s National Payments for Ecosystem Services Program," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 88(4), pages 613-638.
    12. Ghebru, Hosaena, 2015. "Is There a Merit to the Continuum Tenure Approach? A Case of Demand for Land Rights Formulation in Rural Mozambique," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211683, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Ordonez, P. & Balis, K. & Ramirez, I., 2018. "Factors that affect the management of common pool resources: the case of community forest management in Michoac n, Mexico," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277351, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Vranken, Liesbet & Macours, Karen & Noev, Nivelin & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2007. "Property Rights Imperfections, Asset Allocation, and Welfare: Co-Ownership in Bulgaria," 104th Seminar, September 5-8, 2007, Budapest, Hungary 7795, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Anthony Harris & Anthony D'Agostino & Sara Litke-Farzaneh & Beryl Seiler & Matt Sloan, "undated". "Morocco Land Productivity Project: Evaluation Design Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports f3fc788501b64608b17e1cb23, Mathematica Policy Research.
    16. Deininger, Klaus & Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Alemu, Tekie, 2008. "Impacts of land certification on tenure security, investment, and land markets : evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4764, The World Bank.
    17. Muchomba, Felix M., 2017. "Women’s Land Tenure Security and Household Human Capital: Evidence from Ethiopia’s Land Certification," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 310-324.
    18. Vélez, Maria Alejandra & Robalino, Juan & Cardenas, Juan Camilo & Paz, Andrea & Pacay, Eduardo, 2020. "Is collective titling enough to protect forests? Evidence from Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Pacific region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    19. Meeks, Robyn, 2018. "Property Rights and Water Access: Evidence from Land Titling in Rural Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 345-357.
    20. Bocci, Corinne & Fortmann, Lea & Sohngen, Brent & Milian, Bayron, 2018. "The impact of community forest concessions on income: an analysis of communities in the Maya Biosphere Reserve," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 10-21.
    21. Congdon Fors, Heather & Houngbedji, Kenneth & Lindskog, Annika, 2019. "Land certification and schooling in rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 190-208.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Afro-descendants; Collective property; Colombia; Ethnic community; Land titling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land
    • R52 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Land Use and Other Regulations
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N56 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Latin America; Caribbean

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:col:000089:014573. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Universidad De Los Andes-Cede (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ceandco.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.