What鈥檚 Mine is Yours : Pilot Evidence from a Randomized Impact Evaluation
On Property Rights and Women鈥檚 Empowerment in Cote d鈥橧voire
Abstract
The protection of formal institutions can help to strengthen women鈥檚 property rights, potentially improving welfare and economic efficiency of the household with broader implications. Individual land certification in women鈥檚 names and civil marriage registration offer two routes for women towards a more formal delineation of their property rights. In the context of the World Bank Land Policy Improvement and Implementation Project (PAMOFOR), this pilot project examines what drives the take-up of innovative interventions that aim to strengthen women鈥檚 property rights in rural Cote d鈥橧voire: providing economic incentives for a man to register land in his wife鈥檚 name, shifting attitudes through an emotionally resonant video, and encouraging civil marriage in the wake of a new legal reform. Pilot results show how highlighting the benefits of women鈥檚 land ownership for family harmony, economic efficiency, and security for the family can induce husbands to reallocate land to their wives.
This work is part of the Closing the Gender Gap in Africa: evaluating new policies and programmes for women鈥檚 economic empowerment programme
Citation
Donald, Aletheia; Goldstein, Markus; Hartman, Alexandra; La Ferrara, Eliana; O鈥橲ullivan, Michael; Stickler, Mercedes. 2020. What鈥檚 Mine is Yours : Pilot Evidence from a Randomized Impact Evaluation on Property Rights and Women鈥檚 Empowerment in Cote d鈥橧voire. World Bank, Washington, DC