This note comes from a Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, affiliated loosely with the Land Tenure Center there over the last 20 years, and currently directing a rural land market policy project at the Ministry of Agriculture in Nicaragua. The results will be shared at a public seminar in Managua March 14 and 15, and a publication will be available in April.
Nicaraguan law entails land reform parcel titles for five years.
No similar restriction applies to the beneficiaries of urban reform, who may sell their lots at any time after they receive title. We have not found any legislative history explaining reasons for this discrimination. The parties have invented ways to evade the rule, just as in other countries that try to impede transfers by beneficiaries who want to move to other locations or other employment. Our research describes these evasion methods, and estimates how much the ban reduces the price received by the beneficiary, without actually preventing a sale. Few applications are rejected, perhaps because the beneficiaries choose not to ask.