Ask a local: improving the public pricing of land titles in urban Tanzania

Manara, Martina and Regan, Tanner (2022) Ask a local: improving the public pricing of land titles in urban Tanzania. CEP Discussion Papers (1848). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Information on willingness-to-pay is key for public pricing and allocation of services but not easily collected. Studying land titles in Dar-es-Salaam, we ask whether local leaders know and will reveal plot owners' willingness-to-pay. We randomly assign leaders to predict under different settings then elicit owners' actual willingness-to-pay. Demand is substantial, but below exorbitant fees. Leaders can predict the aggregate demand curve and distinguish variation across owners. Predictions worsen when used to target subsidies, but adding cash incentives mitigates this. Finally, we demonstrate that leader-elicited information can improve the public pricing of title deeds, raising uptake while maintaining public funds.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion...
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Authors
Divisions:	Geography & Environment Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
JEL classification:	O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements: Legal, Social, Economic, and Political H - Public Economics > H4 - Publicly Provided Goods > H40 - General R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics > R2 - Household Analysis > R21 - Housing Demand D - Microeconomics > D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty > D80 - General
Date Deposited:	11 Jan 2023 11:51
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2023 23:58
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/117856

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