Productivity dynamics and state support after a land titling program: Evidence from Colombia

Abstract

Despite having allocated and titled 23 million hectares of land over three land reforms, Colombia’s current titling program is viewed as a failure and a driver of land inequality. One potential reason for this outcome is the inability of beneficiaries of a title deed—or, in specific cases, a new formal plot—to establish long-term productive projects, leading many to sell. This study estimates the productivity path of beneficiaries after receiving a land title and considers heterogeneities induced by their access to complementary policies. This study uses Generalized Propensity Scores and exploits the randomness of the time between the title’s issuance and the realization of a national representative survey on beneficiary households. On average, productivity decreases by almost 50 % 2.5 years after program’s implementation. However, it recovers by the beginning of the fifth year. This paper also finds not only that farmers exhibit higher productivity levels when they receive access to credit or technical assistance, but that such support also mitigates and delays the observed drop in productivity after title allocation. Considering the imminent formalization of ten million hectares of public land, these findings call on the Colombian government to revise this titling program and execute the complementary policies already foreseen in this reform.