“It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar
Many policy makers and academics striving for more gender equality consider joint property rights as preferable over sole rights, since the latter often discriminate against women. Several governments in low-, middle- and high-income countries have therefore imposed joint rights through modification...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2024
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139136 |
| _version_ | 1855543322296188928 |
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| author | Lambrecht, Isabel B. Synt, Nang Lun Kham Ei Win, Hnin Mahrt, Kristi Win, Khin Zin |
| author_browse | Ei Win, Hnin Lambrecht, Isabel B. Mahrt, Kristi Synt, Nang Lun Kham Win, Khin Zin |
| author_facet | Lambrecht, Isabel B. Synt, Nang Lun Kham Ei Win, Hnin Mahrt, Kristi Win, Khin Zin |
| author_sort | Lambrecht, Isabel B. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Many policy makers and academics striving for more gender equality consider joint property rights as preferable over sole rights, since the latter often discriminate against women. Several governments in low-, middle- and high-income countries have therefore imposed joint rights through modifications of statutory law or mandatory joint property registration. We first discuss a general theoretical framework of determinants of property rights with a focus on jointness and the interplay between statutory law, customary law and religious norms, as well as the importance of gendered customs, norms and perceptions around household, family and community arrangements. We then also relate this specifically to the case of Myanmar—based on literature and original qualitative data collected with men and women across all four agro-ecological zones in rural Myanmar. We find equal customary and statutory joint property rights regime upon marriage where inheritance rights are not different for men and women, but only one name is generally recorded on land use certificates. A strong sense of “togetherness”, including a custom of income pooling and rare occurrence of divorce, limits the rationale of marital partners to exercise rights solely rather than jointly. Nevertheless, which household members’ name is on a document is important for accessing credit or engaging with officials and government authorities, and strong patriarchal norms guide official and administrative procedures. Whereas short-term impacts of sole land titling seem limited, the extent to which sole or joint titling might affect gender equality in the longer term remains a topic of future research. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace139136 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1391362025-10-26T12:51:05Z “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar Lambrecht, Isabel B. Synt, Nang Lun Kham Ei Win, Hnin Mahrt, Kristi Win, Khin Zin marital property rights women's empowerment agriculture land rights gender Many policy makers and academics striving for more gender equality consider joint property rights as preferable over sole rights, since the latter often discriminate against women. Several governments in low-, middle- and high-income countries have therefore imposed joint rights through modifications of statutory law or mandatory joint property registration. We first discuss a general theoretical framework of determinants of property rights with a focus on jointness and the interplay between statutory law, customary law and religious norms, as well as the importance of gendered customs, norms and perceptions around household, family and community arrangements. We then also relate this specifically to the case of Myanmar—based on literature and original qualitative data collected with men and women across all four agro-ecological zones in rural Myanmar. We find equal customary and statutory joint property rights regime upon marriage where inheritance rights are not different for men and women, but only one name is generally recorded on land use certificates. A strong sense of “togetherness”, including a custom of income pooling and rare occurrence of divorce, limits the rationale of marital partners to exercise rights solely rather than jointly. Nevertheless, which household members’ name is on a document is important for accessing credit or engaging with officials and government authorities, and strong patriarchal norms guide official and administrative procedures. Whereas short-term impacts of sole land titling seem limited, the extent to which sole or joint titling might affect gender equality in the longer term remains a topic of future research. 2024-04 2024-02-09T14:40:02Z 2024-02-09T14:40:02Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139136 en https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12789 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103134 https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13259 https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12632 Open Access Elsevier Lambrecht, Isabel B.; Synt, Nang Lun Kham; Win, Hnin Ei; Mahrt, Kristi; and Win, Khin Zin. “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar. Land Use Policy 139: 107089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107089 |
| spellingShingle | marital property rights women's empowerment agriculture land rights gender Lambrecht, Isabel B. Synt, Nang Lun Kham Ei Win, Hnin Mahrt, Kristi Win, Khin Zin “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar |
| title | “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar |
| title_full | “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar |
| title_fullStr | “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar |
| title_full_unstemmed | “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar |
| title_short | “It doesn’t matter at all—we are family”: Titling and joint property rights in Myanmar |
| title_sort | it doesn t matter at all we are family titling and joint property rights in myanmar |
| topic | marital property rights women's empowerment agriculture land rights gender |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139136 |
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