We analyze the individualization of farm units in Mali in the sense of a transformation of purely collective farms into mixed units in which private plots coexist with collective fields. Since a moral-hazard-in-team problem plagues production on the latter and the household head extracts his...

From field observations of credit cooperatives in Cameroon, we find that 19% of the loans taken are fully collateralized by savings held in the same institutions. This behavior is costly to the borrower, as it represents a net interest payment of about 24% per year. While traditional...

This article provides a methodological bridge leading from the well-developed theory of credit rationing to the less developed territory of empirically identifying credit constraints. We begin by developing a simple model showing that credit constraints may take three forms: quantity rationing,...

This article proposes an original theory of marriage payments based on insights gained from firsthand information collected in the Senegal River valley. This theory postulates that decisions about the bride-price, which are made by the bride's father, take into account the likely effects of the...

The question of the role of statutory law in social environments permeated by custom and traditional norms is particularly important when the statutory law aims to correct social inequalities embedded in the customs. The conventional view is that formal law often fails to take root in...

This article presents first-hand evidence about land distribution and the impact of land markets in central Uganda. This area is characterized by unequal distribution of land inheritance, rural-rural migration, and active land markets. We show that land markets, and particularly land purchases,...

This article presents first-hand evidence about land distribution and the impact of land markets in central Uganda. This area is characterized by unequal distribution of land inheritance, rural-rural migration, and active land markets. We show that land markets, and particularly land purchases,...