Trust, tenure insecurity, and land certification in rural Ethiopia

This paper assesses the impact of a land certification program in Ethiopia on the level of interpersonal and institutional trust among households in the Amhara region. The land certification program is designed to enhance land tenure security of farmers, by maintaining (egalitarian) status quo land distribution and equity concerns. The major contribution of the analysis lies in the exogenous nature of the program which addresses the endogeneity problems that characterize related studies, assessing the impact of policy related variables on trust. The effects of the land certification program on trust are identified both by the difference-in-difference approach and by non-parametrical analysis of average treatment effects. Overall trust is found to be enhanced by the certification program, with trust towards formal institutions being more responsive to the program than interpersonal trust. The major policy implication of the result is that trust could be invested on through policy changes regarding the economic betterment of societies.

► The certification program is believed to restore tenure security of farmers in Ethiopia.
► The exogenous nature of the program enables addressing the endogeniety problems that characterize related studies on trust.
► Difference in difference approach is used to measure the impact of the program on trust.
► The effects of the certification program are stronger for institutional trust.