In rural areas agricultural plots are seldom delineated and can be encroached upon by neighbours. Under these circumstances labour supply can be inefficiently distorted to safeguard the plots from encroachment.

The year 2016 marks 15 years since the new wave land reforms became operational in Tanzania. Despite its ambitious goals – encouraging land registration and titling, and empowering women and other vulnerable groups – the results are disillusioning.

The authors report on the first empirical study of its kind to examine - from the perspective of transaction costs - factors that constrain access to land for the rural poor and other socially excluded groups in India.

As part of its efforts to improve the rural economies of its client countries, the World Bank is supporting programs to strengthen land administration and undertake land reform. Land administration projects can include a variety of activities.