Is Women's Ownership of Land a Panacea in Developing Countries? Evidence from Land-Owning Farm Households in Malawi

Sumon Bhaumik, Ralitza Dimova () and Ira Gang

No 7907, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Our analysis of a rich representative household survey for Malawi, where patrilineal and matrilineal institutions coexist, suggests that (a) in matrilineal societies the likelihood of cash crop cultivation by a household increases with the extent of land owned (or de facto controlled) by males, and (b) and cultivation of cash crops increases household welfare. The policy implication is that facilitating female ownership of assets through informal and formal institutions does not, on its own, increase welfare, if women do not have access to complementary resources that are needed to generate income from those assets.

Keywords: cash crops; informal institutions; female ownership of assets; household welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 O13 O2 Q12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2014-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dem and nep-dev
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Journal of Development Studies, 2016, 52(2), 242-253

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Related works:
Journal Article: Is Women’s Ownership of Land a Panacea in Developing Countries? Evidence from Land-Owning Farm Households in Malawi (2016)
Working Paper: Is women's ownership of land a panacea in developing countries? Evidence from land-owning farm households in Malawi (2015)
Working Paper: Is women's ownership of land a panacea in developing countries? Evidence from land-owning farm households in Malawi (2013)
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