Does Women's Land Ownership Promote Their Empowerment? Empirical Evidence from Nepal. (February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mishra, Khushbu; Sam, Abdoul G.
• Is Part Of: World development. Volume 78(2016)
• Page Start: 360
• Page End: 371
• Publication Date: 2016-02
• Subjects: gender -- land ownership -- empowerment -- household decision making -- Nepal -- South Asia; Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals; Economic assistance -- Developing countries -- Periodicals; 330.9
• DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-750X

Abstract

Highlights: We examine the impact of Nepali women's land ownership on their empowerment. We use the 2001 and 2011 waves of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey data. We find that land ownership increases women's empowerment significantly. Ignoring the selection issues and endogeneity underestimate these impacts. The impacts are higher for the most recent 2011 wave than the 2001 wave. Summary: Land rights equity is seen as an important tool for increasing empowerment and economic welfare for women in developing countries. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to empirically examine the role of women's land ownership, either alone or jointly, as a means of improving their intra-household bargaining power in the areas of own healthcare, major household purchases, and visiting family or relatives. Using the 2001 and 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys and relevant econometric techniques, we find that land ownership has a positive and significant impact on women's empowerment. In particular, we find two important patterns of results. First, accounting for the endogeneity of land ownership with inverse probability weighting, coarsened exact matching and instrumental variable methods makes its impact on empowerment higher. Previous research in this area had largely ignored the potential endogeneity of land ownership. Second, the impact is generally stronger in 2011 than in 2001. As evidenced in a number of empirical studies, the increase in women's bargaining power can in turn translate into a redirection of resources toward women's preferences, including higher investment in human capital of the household such as education, health, and nutrition. Therefore, our study indicates that in places where agriculture is the main source of economy for women, policies enhancing land rights equity have the potential to increase women's empowerment and associated beneficial welfare effects.