Using Registry Data to Assess Gender-Differentiated Land and Credit Market Effects of Urban Land Policy Reform : Evidence from Lesotho
Since 2010, Lesotho has implemented legal and institutional changes to allow female land ownership, established a new land agency, reduced the cost of registering land, and carried out systematic urban land titling. Analysis using administrative da...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/748671622552943775/Using-Registry-Data-to-Assess-Gender-Differentiated-Land-and-Credit-Market-Effects-of-Urban-Land-Policy-Reform-Evidence-from-Lesotho http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35643 |
| Summary: | Since 2010, Lesotho has implemented
legal and institutional changes to allow female land
ownership, established a new land agency, reduced the cost
of registering land, and carried out systematic urban land
titling. Analysis using administrative data shows that these
reforms triggered discontinuous and sustained changes in
quality of service delivery, female land ownership, and
registered land sales and mortgage volume. Land and credit
market activation is, however, exclusively due to policy
reforms. While (subsidized) systematic land registration
allows women to access documented land rights, these effects
may not be sustained without further regulatory change,
highlighting the importance of reducing fees and
streamlining processes to improve urban land and financial
market functioning as a key precondition for Africa’s
expected wave of urbanization translating into productive
cities and jobs. |
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