What Drives Take-up in Land Regularization: Ecuador’s Rural Land Regularization and Administration Program, Sigtierras

Abstract

During the past decades, land regularization and administration programs have become part of the development tool box to improve the welfare of rural farmers. However, these programs cannot produce the intended economic benefits if people choose not to enroll in them. In this context, this paper investigates how household, plot, and community characteristics, as sources of informal property rights, explain the low take-up (less than 15%) of land regularization under the National Rural Land Information and Management System Program (Sigtierras Program) in Ecuador. Using newly collected survey data combined with census tract-level data and administrative project data, we assess how different household-, plot-, and community-level characteristics affect the likelihood of take-up of legal support to regularize tenancy offered by Sigtierras. Our results suggest that some household-specific and community-level characteristics that enhance a household’s ownership claim are important determinants of take-up. Our empirical results provide insights to inform targeting strategies to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of future land regularization efforts in Ecuador.