# **2. LSMS+: Land Rights and Decision-Making Measures in Defining Ownership**

# **2.1 Multidimensionality of Ownership**

This paper uses three nationally representative, multi-topic household surveys supported by the LSMS+ program, namely the Tanzania National Panel Survey (NPS4 2018/2019), Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey (ESS4 2018/2019), and the Malawi Integrated Household Panel Survey (IHPS 2016). The LSMS+ modules on asset ownership and rights are comparable across countries and were administered directly to all household members 18 and older on different asset classes, including ownership and rights to residential and non-residential land (Hasanbasri et al., 2021).<sup>10</sup> A specific emphasis of the survey data collection was on self-reporting and interviewing respondents privately — and hence conducting interviews within the household simultaneously, when possible.<sup>11</sup> This paper focuses on characterizing landowners’ rights and decision-making over non-residential land parcels. A respondent is defined as the reported landowner if they answer upfront that he/she owns the parcel. A _parcel_ is defined as a continuous piece of land which can have more than one parcel. Parcels were first identified and rostered through the household questionnaire and then carried forward to individual interviews. Non-residential land in these contexts is mainly used for agriculture. In Ethiopia, for example, 87 percent of non-residential parcels have been used in agriculture in the last 12 months.<sup>12</sup> Rights and decision-making questions were asked directly to individuals who reported themselves as owners or as individuals with use rights on the land. Since the paper aims to analyze rights associated with ownership, we restrict our sample to those who report themselves as landowners. Later in the paper, however, we address sensitivity of our findings to the inclusion of non-owners with use rights (which is only possible to do in Ethiopia and Tanzania). Most individuals who provided answers on rights and decision making were owners instead of users of land.

For each parcel, respondents are asked about different types of ownership (reported, economic, and documented); rights (to sell, bequeath, use as collateral, rent out, and make improvements/invest); as well as decision-making in the case of agricultural parcels.<sup>13</sup> A detailed list of land rights and ownership variables in the LSMS+ surveys, as well as additional decisionmaking variables, are presented in Table 1. All countries had the same questionnaire structure and implementation, except for Ethiopia where the right to sell was not asked because land is legally

> 10 Other types of assets were also covered, including financial accounts, and mobile phones. Ownership of livestock was covered in Ethiopia.

> 11 The module on land specifically covers all land owned or accessed via use rights and follows the recommendations of FAO, World Bank and UN Habitat (2019).

> 12 Ethiopia and Malawi looked at all non-residential land used for agriculture. Tanzania was not restricted to agricultural use only due to missing data on current use. 13 Along with rights/ownership, respondents reported on how each parcel was acquired; identified the individuals from whom the asset was inherited or received as a gift, as applicable; and provided the current hypothetical sales value for each asset (and the construction costs specifically for the dwelling) and limited information on their knowledge of asset transactions in their communities.

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