Land titling and technical efficiency among small coffee producers in Honduras

Land titling, the formal registration of land previously used without formal title, is a policy that is currently in vogue throughout the developing world. As part of this trend, Honduras undertook a land titling project in 1982. Expected outcomes of the project included increased access to credit for small farmers, and subsequently, increased on-farm investment and enhanced tenure security. Analysis of the survey data indicates that titling by itself did not bring the intended outcomes, and that institutional factors must be considered in policy design if policies are to have their intended effect.