Rural Demography, Public Services and Land Rights in Africa: A Village-Level Analysis in Burkina Faso / Margaret S. McMillan, William A. Masters, Harounan Kazianga.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McMillan, Margaret Stokes.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Masters, William A.

Kazianga, Harounan.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17718.

NBER working paper series no. w17718

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011.

Summary:

This paper uses historical census data from Burkina Faso to characterize local demographic pressures associated with internal migration into river valleys after Onchocerciasis eradication, combined with a new survey of village elders to document change over time and differences across villages in local public goods provision, market institutions and land use rights. We hypothesize that higher local population densities are associated with more public goods and a transition from open-access to regulated land use. Controlling for province or village fixed effects, we find that villages' variance in population associated with proximity to rivers is closely correlated with higher levels of infrastructure, markets and individual land rights, as opposed to familial or communal rights. Responding to population growth with both improved public services and private property rights is consistent with both scale effects in public good provision, and changes in the scarcity of land.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2011.