Hasan 2012).<sup>19</sup> These frameworks impede women’s ownership, use, and control of productive assets in a number of ways.<sup>20</sup> For example, in an analysis of legal frameworks in Sub-Saharan Africa, Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan (2012) found that under half of all countries make specific provisions for the right of women to own land, and very few countries – particularly low-income countries – allow for the co-ownership of land.

The default legal distribution of marital property in a given country also plays a role in women’s access to property. Marital property regimes govern the allocation and control of assets during marriage and the division of those assets upon the dissolution of marriage (in the event of death or divorce). The default property regime can partially determine the relative bargaining power of husbands and wives and the socio-economic outcomes of household members in a given context. Three of the most common types of default regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere include separation of property (in which all property acquired prior to and during marriage remains individually owned), community of property<sup>21</sup> (in which all property acquired after the union is owned equally, except for individual inheritance or gifts), and customary regimes<sup>22</sup> (HallwardDriemeier and Hasan 2012).

Default community of property regimes tend to be more common in countries with a civil law tradition, while default separate property regimes are more common in countries with a sizable share of polygamous unions and/or a common law tradition (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2012). Although community of property regimes, which can be full or partial in nature, tend to be more favorable toward women, there are some exceptions. For example, despite having a partial community property regime, five countries<sup>23</sup> in Sub-Saharan Africa give husbands the right to administer jointly-owned property (World Bank and IFC 2015).

The default property regime may also influence women’s access to formal savings accounts. The authors of the World Bank's _Women, Business and the Law 2016_ report uncovered a correlation between a country’s default property regime and financial inclusion levels (World Bank and IFC 2015). They found that countries with a community of property regime had a higher proportion of adult females, on average, with an account at a financial entity. When comparing those community of property regime countries with and without husband provisions (and controlling differences in gross

> 19 Customary law is officially recognized in the constitutions of 27 of 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2012). Eight of those countries have constitutions that explicitly exempt customary law from principles of non-discrimination (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2012). Since formal laws tend to accord women stronger property rights, these patterns can contribute to gender inequality in the ownership and control of property.

20 There are, however, a number of efforts to promote gender parity in property rights and other domains. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have initiated 18 legal and policy reforms in the previous two years to strengthen women’s economic empowerment (World Bank and IFC 2015).

21 Community property regimes can be further divided into partial (with pre-marriage assets treated as separate and post-marriage assets as joint), full (with pre- and post-marriage assets held jointly), and deferred (with all assets held separately until dissolution of the marriage, when full or partial regimes apply) community property regimes (World Bank and IFC 2015).

22 Default customary regimes are less common: only three countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have customary regimes (Botswana, Burundi, and Swaziland), but many other countries include statutory provisions for customary marriages (Hallward-Driemeier and Hasan 2012).

23 The following countries have a partial community of property regime while granting husbands the right to administer jointly-owned property: Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, and Côte d’Ivoire. Swaziland, which has no default property regime, also grants husbands the right to administer marital property.

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