Resource information
Secure property rights are considered a
key determinant of economic development. However, evaluation
of the causal effects of land titling is a difficult task.
Since 2004, the Brazilian government, through a program
called "Papel Passado," has issued titles to more
than 85,000 families and has the goal to reach 750,000.
Another topic in public policy that is crucial for
developing economies is child labor force participation. In
Brazil, about 5.4 million children and teenagers between 5
and 17 years old are working full time. This paper examines
the direct impact of securing a property title on child
labor force participation. In order to isolate the causal
role of ownership security, this study uses a comparison
between two close and similar communities in the City of
Osasco case (a town with 650,000 people in the São Paulo
metropolitan area). The key point of this case is that some
units participate in the program and others do not. One of
them, Jardim Canaã, received land titles in 2007; the other,
Jardim DR, given fiscal constraints, will not be part of the
program until 2012, and for that reason became the control
group. Estimates, generated using the
difference-in-difference econometric technique suggest that
titling results in a substantial decrease in child labor
force participation for the families that received the title
compared with the others. These findings are relevant for
future policy tools for dealing with informality and how it
affects economic growth.
