Do Limitations in Land Rights Transferability Influence Mobility Rates in Ethiopia?

Abstract: Migration is considered a pathway out of poverty for many rural households in developing countries. National policies can discourage households from exploiting external employment opportunities through the distortion of capital markets. Studies in China show that the presence of state and collectively owned land creates inefficiencies in the labor market. We examine the extent restrictions on land rights impede mobility in Ethiopia. The empirical estimates support a modest, negative effect from increasing the transferability of land rights on migration. These findings suggest the absence of land rights slightly encourages migration. Moreover, this behavior is consistent with earlier findings which show land rights improvements encourage productivity investments assuming land and on-farm labor are complementary inputs.
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