Land Certification and Schooling in Rural Ethiopia

Heather Congdon Fors (1) , Kenneth Houngbedji (2, 3) , Annika Lindskog (1)

1 School of Business, Economics and Law
2 PSE - Paris School of Economics
3 PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques

This paper investigates the impact of a rural Ethiopian land certification program on schooling. Our hypothesis is that formal property rights facilitate land inheritance, reducing the net benefit of schooling for children who will inherit the land. Formal rights also decrease the need for activities to secure continued access to the land, reducing the cost of schooling for all children. The results suggest a positive overall effect on school enrollment. However, grade progress of oldest sons, who are most likely to inherit the land, worsens. Our complementary analysis on child labor suggests a differential impact in the two zones studied.

Mots clés: Schooling; Child labor; Land administration; Property rights; Ethiopia

Domaines: Economies et finances

Heather Congdon Fors, Kenneth Houngbedji, Annika Lindskog. Land Certification and Schooling in Rural Ethiopia. 2015. ⟨halshs-01202695v1⟩