Population pressure, rural-to-rural migration and evolution of land tenure institutions: The case of Uganda

•This study explores how land tenure systems endogenously evolves over time.•Specifically, this study examines how population pressure and internal migration influence changes in land tenure arrangements in Uganda.•We find more privately owned land in immigrant-dominated and ethnically diverse communities.•The study also finds higher crop yield on privately owned parcels.

This study examines the evolutionary process of land tenure systems in Uganda from communal to private ownership with a special attention to the role of rural-to-rural migration as a key driving force. By tracing migration patterns using unique longitudinal household survey data containing detailed information on land tenure and migration history, we found that immigrant-dominated communities have a higher incidence of private land ownership even after controlling for population density and market access. We also found that land markets are more active in immigrant-dominated communities and that private land ownership results in higher agricultural productivity.