Does Titling Matter? Evidence from Housing Markets in India

Abstract

In this paper, we exploit the plausibly exogenous random relocation of slum dwellers in Pune, India to evaluate whether the provision of a formal title is capitalized into property values. Using propensity score matching methods, which address important sources of bias that are present in conventional Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) hedonic methods, we find no effect of titling. Our results suggest that slum improvements may be sufficient to enhance informal tenure rights and that formalizing those rights with a title has little additional impact. An analysis of heterogeneous treatment effects from titling confirms this conclusion, providing preliminary evidence when titling may complement or substitute for other slum interventions.