wife (or a randomly selected wife in polygamous households) and one randomly selected other adult member of the household about their own animals. Thus, this survey collected both household and individual level ownership data on a subset of household members.

_Housing_ . Similar to land, information on who owns the house, whether it is individually or jointly owned, whether it is titled and to whom, and what the ownership rights over the house consist of is important for gender equality, poverty reduction, and social protection policies. Yet, only 21 percent of the LSMS questionnaires that we reviewed asked questions regarding individual ownership of housing (Table 4), while 96 percent did so at the household level (Table 3).

Of the LSMS questionnaires, those for Nicaragua (various years) represent the best practice, inquiring as to individual and joint ownership of housing. The surveys for Panama (1997; 2003), Paraguay (2000-01) and Argentina (2001), among others, lose information, since they ask the ownership question only if someone has a title for the house (Table A3). The Uzbekistan (2005) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (2001) questionnaires go one step further, querying who holds title to the house and whether that member can sell the dwelling if she or he wanted to. The Vietnam (1991-92 and 1997-1998) surveys permit the individual ID code to be filled in for the question, “To which member does this dwelling belong?” The 1997-98) survey also includes a set of id codes for joint ownership. Both Vietnam surveys also ask how the dwelling was acquired.

The IFPRI questionnaire for the Philippines and those of the ICRW for Kerala, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Bengal gather information on housing ownership by individual and joint ownership but do not ask whether those individuals have a title.

_Business assets_ . Business assets could include both farm equipment utilized as part of the agricultural enterprise and assets used in non-agricultural enterprises. They are typically handled separately in the questionnaires. Here we will discuss only non-farm enterprises.

With respect to non-agricultural enterprises, information is needed on both the owner(s) and on the managers of the business. The LSMS questionnaires for Albania (2005), Ghana (1991-92, 1998-99) and Nicaragua (1998; 2001) were the only ones of this genre to solicit information on both of these variables (Table A2). Most unfortunate is where ownership and management are conflated: the Panama (2003) and Ecuador (1998; 199899) questionnaires asked, “Who is the owner or manager?” The Peru (2002; 2003) questionnaires asked individuals if they owned a non-agricultural business and the equipment used in the business; it then assumed that this business was managed by that person and asked if it were registered. Others collected information on non-agricultural business assets by either the person responsible for business activities (Ecuador (1998, 1998-99, Bosnia-Herzegovina 2004) or the best-informed person (Kosovo 2000), but not by owner. The South Africa LSMS (1993) collected information on up to three individuals self-employed in non-farm activities and asked the total value of the equipment used to do their jobs.

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