Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10159
Authors: Eliana La Ferrara; Annamaria Milazzo
Abstract: This paper studies the effects of descent rules on human capital accumulation. We exploit a policy experiment in Ghana that introduced minimum quotas for the land that parents should devolve on their children. This policy differentially affected ethnic groups depending on their descent rules: the matrilineal Akan saw a reduction in the share of land going to the matriclan and an increase in the land going to male children (who could not inherit from their own fathers before the reform). Patrilineal groups were instead less affected because sons could already inherit from fathers before the reform. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, across cohorts and ethnic groups, we estimate the impact of the reform on educational attainment. We find that Akan boys exposed to the reform received on average 0.9 less years of education, a 10 percent reduction. The effect is driven by landed households, for whom the reform did effectively bind, while no effect is found for non-landed households. This evidence is consistent with the fact that before the reform matrilineal groups in Ghana "over-invested" in education to substitute for land inheritance. Our findings suggest that in the presence of customary norms, land reform and the individualization of land rights may have implications that go beyond the agricultural sector and affect human capital accumulation in the long run.
Keywords: Education; Ghana; Inheritance; Reform; Land Rights
JEL Codes: I25; O12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Ghana's intestate succession law reform (K36) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| Ghana's intestate succession law reform (K36) | educational attainment of Akan boys (I24) |
| Ghana's intestate succession law reform (K36) | probability of completing primary or secondary school for Akan males (I24) |
| Ghana's intestate succession law reform (K36) | attendance rates for Akan boys (I24) |
| Ghana's intestate succession law reform (K36) | parental investment in education for boys (I24) |
| customary norms (Z13) | human capital accumulation (J24) |