TABLE 4

Agricultural Productivity Impacts of Formal Land Rights (n = 473)

SpecificationSoil QualityInformal Land RightsCoefficient on Land Title
Block 1: Soil Quality and Informal Land Rights Both Excluded as Regressors
OLSNoNo-0.035
IVNoNo-0.484
FENoNo0.028
FE-IVNoNo0.420
Block 2: Soil Quality Included, Informal Land Rights Excluded as Regressors
OLSYesNo-0.009
IVYesNo-0.553
FEYesNo0.001
FE-IVYesNo0.282
Block 3: Soil Quality Excluded, Informal Land Rights Included as Regressors
OLSNoYes-0.044
IVNoYes-0.035
FENoYes-0.104
FE-IVNoYes0.666
Block 4: Soil Quality and Informal Land Rights Both Included as Regressors
OLSYesYes-0.018
IVYesYes-0.306
FEYesYes-0.138
FE-IVYesYes0.434
  • Note: Each block represents a set of specification which include or exclude the soil quality measurements (i.e., the ln s variables in equations [1]-[4]) and which include or exclude the informal land rights measures (i.e., the r variables in equations [1]-[4]). Each line within a block respectively corresponds to the specifications in equations [1]-[4] (i.e., OLS, IV, FE, and FE-IV). The last column presents the estimated impact of a formal land title on agricultural productivity for each specification. In no case is that estimated impact statistically significant. A full set of results is available from the author.

  • *, **, *** Statistical significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1% levels, respectively.