Institutions and the Gender Land Gap: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Strengthening women's property rights is on the policy agenda. Rich detailed analyses abound, discussing how agrarian change, including commercialization of land or land titling programmes, affect women's property rights within a particular context. In this comparative paper, we examine national-level institutional factors across 45 low- and middle-income countries. We combine individual-level land ownership data with indicators about the structure of the economy, land markets, work and education, gender equality, property rights, social norms, marital property rights and inheritance and political voice. We find no evidence that economic growth is associated with lower gender land gaps. However, the indicators that proxy for greater gender equality in the labour force, educational attainment and legal and social norms are all associated with a lower gender gap in landownership, suggesting that national-level institutions can play an important role in supporting women's land rights.