Joseph Kieyah

Economics of Land Title Registration:: Theories and Evidence from Kenya Joseph Kieyah

Demand for and title registration in Kenya is driven by potential value of land, educational attainment of the landowner and the proximity of the location of land office. The empirical results provide strong support for the model, suggesting that choice of title registration depend on benefit and the cost of registration. The over fifty years record of land title reform has not necessarily produced the expected economic development because the choice of registration rested on landowner on voluntary basis. The problem is the existence of an externality that prevents landowners from fully internalizing the social gains from the reform. Rather than promoting efficient use of the agricultural land, the functionality of land control board has not been able to spur rural development as it has been envisioned. The book offers a contrasting perspective to previous studies, which question the viability of current land title registration programme for its failure to increase economic development.