digitized for this purpose, divide the city into 1,932 blocks each 250m x 250m, and for regression analysis focus on close to 40,000 block-year-level observations in 2000-2019.

Information on the stock of parcels registered, the flow of those registered for the first time either through a project-supported systematic process or sporadically based on owner applications, and the number of registered land sales and mortgages are aggregated by block to obtain a panel of annual data for 2000 through 2019. Registry data is complemented by annual spatial data on built area and population density as control variables. The amount of built area registered is used as an additional outcome variable to proxy for land-attached investment.

We use these data to estimate short- and medium-term effects of LARP using two independent panel econometric specifications with block fixed effects and time-varying controls. The program’s roll-out over time and space is used to identify short-term effects. To separate medium-term impacts of policy change from those of initial registration, we rely on the fact that policies affected registry operation and sporadic registration of land rights before, during, and after LARP-supported initial registration. We thus use the stock of registered rights, by modality of registration and interacted as needed with an indicator for the policy regime (pre- or post-reform), to estimate the impacts of policy changes and the contribution of systematic initial registration to outcome variables of interest. Three results stand out: First, in line with the literature, we find that LARP’s main short-term impacts derive from systematic first registration of rights. A time-varying indicator variable for blocks with active first registration points to significant program-induced increases in the number of registered parcels, female co-ownership of land, built registered area, and registered sales—but not mortgages. Interacting a policy reform indicator with initial values suggests that policy changes had significant impact throughout; however, estimated marginal effects are smaller than those of the systematic registration program.

Second, beyond the immediate impact of systematic first registration of rights, policy reform had significant impact on the number of registered mortgages and land sales. These credit and land market activation effects are particularly pronounced for female co-owners. Evidence of policy-induced transaction cost reductions supports the plausibility of this result that provides a significant addition to the literature. Our ability to document a policy-induced drop in the cost of registering land transactions supports this argument by providing a plausible channel for such impacts to materialize.

Third, the time gap between enactment of different gender-related laws and regulations allows us to test whether greater female access to land rights can be attributed to the landmark 200 <mark>6 Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act (LCMPA), which, f</mark> or the first time in Lesotho’s history, allows married women to hold and register land rights in their names and provides supportive regulations. We find that the <mark>LCMPA</mark> 3