MAy / q g/ The Impact of Landownership Security: Theory and Evidence from Thailand

This article develops a model of farmers ' land acquisition and investment decisions. The model clarifies the relation between land values, landownership security, and credit markets. The risk of eviction on untitled lands and the advantages in access to credit associated with titled land are shown to account for the higher price of titled land. Furthermore, observed land prices are distorted when credit is priced below the opportunity cost of capital and the risk of eviction is positive. Therefore social benefit analysis of land titling cannot utilize land prices without correcting for these distortions. The article offers formulas for performing such corrections. Econometric estimates of the value of legal ownership in three provinces of Thailand using cross-section land price data show a statistically significant effect of ownership security on land price. The econometric estimates of ownership security are combined with the formulas generated by the model to yield estimates of the social benefit of land titling in the three provinces. The analysis implies that granting full legal ownership to squatters can be a socially beneficial policy in many provinces. The evolution of individual land rights in rural areas and of enforcemen