The benefits of titling indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon : a stated preference approach

We conduct a discrete choice experiment with leaders of a random sample of 164 Peruvian indigenous communities (ICs) - to our knowledge, the first use of rigorous stated preference methods to analyze land titling. We find that: (i) on average, IC leaders are willing to pay US$35,000-45,000 for a title, roughly twice the per community administrative cost of titling; (ii) WTP is positively correlated with the value of IC land and the risk of land grabbing; and (iii) leaders prefer titling processes that involve indigenous representatives and titles that encompass land with cultural value.