Does land registration and certification reduce land border conflicts?

Abstract

This paper assesses factors related to local land border conflicts and how low cost land registration and certification has affected land conflicts during and after land registration and certification using data from northern Ethiopia. Border conflicts were more common near district centers, further away from markets, and where property rights had been redistributed more recently. A higher probability of reduction in conflicts during and after the reform was positively associated with nearness to markets, longer distance to district centers, more recent land redistribution, better quality border demarcation and plot measurement during registration, and less involvement by local elders in adjudication. (JEL-codes: Q15).