1. B. James Deaton, Liam Kelly, J. Atsu Amegashie The Nature of Property Rights in Haiti: Mode of Land Acquisition, Gender, and Investment B. James Deaton is a Professor of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics University of Guelph Liam Kelly is a former MSc. Student of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics University of Guelph J. Atsu Amegashie is a Professor of Economics University of Guelph

2. Motivation Haiti’s land tenure system is considered a major constraint to economic development by gov. (2012) Approximately 95% of rural land transactions are completed informally (INARA, 1997) Inheritance a primary means of household acquisition of agricultural land.

3. Motivation Agriculture employs 60% of the work force. 3 out of 4 low-income Haitians; soil is highly degraded (Cohen, 2013) Women are heavily engaged in Agriculture (Gardella 2006; Smucker 1981) Intestate law (de jure) treats daughters and sons equally; but does it really?

4. Contribution to the Economics Literature Bubb (2013) argues that de facto property rights emerge locally; especially, when the state is weak.

5. Research Site

7. Primary Crops Include: millet, corn, manioc, beans, potatoes, peanuts Livestock: Chickens, pigs, goats, horses

8. property A(1/3) B (1/3) C (1/3) A1 (1/6) A2 (1/6) Deaton studies in Tenancy in common (2005, 2007, 2009, 2012) Haitian Civil Code and Intestate Succession

9. FIELD WORK Six months of field research in a remote area in Haiti’s Central Department (July – Dec. 2013) –Informal discussions with over 350 households, –Developed a basic registry of the 252 households in 8 villages within walking distance. –Randomly sampled and then surveyed 110 of the 252 households; surveyed 98 households

10. FIELD WORK CONT. Succeeded in surveying 98 out of 110 households This resulted in 152 survey respondents from 8 villages; 193 parcels –68 men (purchased = 57, inherited = 42) –84 women (purchased = 54, inherited = 40)

11. Rural Landownership Purchase land –95% of parcels have some form of documentation –Conflict with previous owners is not common Inherited land –24% have some form of documentation –Conflict between family members is common

12. Ownership Position

13. Are you actively using parcel? (% Yes)

14. Are you able to exclude anyone from using the land?

15. Are you able to alienate the land?

16. Key Questions Why do both men and women view purchased land as more tenure secure? Why does there appear to be gender differences in perceptions of tenure security with respect to inherited land? Will these differences influence investment decisions?

17. Theory Conventional Approach (Besley,1995) –Wealth for time t+1 W 11 < 0 by concavity assumption W 12 > 0 requires functional form assumptions (see pg. 908) and, in words, costs are assumed independent of property rights in next period and increased property rights are expected to reduce the probability of expropriation.

18. Regression Approach: Probit, Linear Probablity Model

20. Regression Results: Factors Influencing Conservation Investments

21. Selected Regression Results: Factors Influencing Conservation Investments

22. Tentative Findings De facto property rights appear to govern inheritance. –Provide greater security for men. Investment –Women less likely to make investments on their inherited land.

23. Policy Implications?