Work

A Field of Her Own: Property Rights and Women’s Agency in Myanmar

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Can financial incentives lead households to register land in women's names, thereby providing them with formal property rights? Can formal property ownership improve women's economic outcomes and change decision-making dynamics within the household? To investigate these questions, we take advantage of a bank lending policy in Myanmar that motivated households with land holdings above ten acres to title the surplus land in their wives' names. We surveyed 5,068 men and women in Myanmar about land ownership, economic activity, and gendered decision-making. We find that the financial incentives provided by the bank lending policy led to increases in women's formal property ownership, but these exogenously assigned rights did not manifest broadly into greater economic empowerment or decision-making power for recipients. We provide suggestive evidence that local cultural norms are a significant constraint for women to achieve empowerment through formal land rights.

Source: The Journal of Politics

DOI: 10.1086/734236

Authors: Alexander Fertig, Alexandra Hartman, Lakshmi Iyer, Edmund Malesky

Institutions: University of Michigan, University College London, University of Notre Dame, Duke University

Language: English

Topic: Land Rights and Reforms

Subfield: Soil Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Reduced inequalities, No poverty, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funders: University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University College London, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development