Cultivate or Rent out? Land Security in Rural Thailand

This paper examines the role that land rights play in the decision to either cultivate or lease a given plot. Using data from 2,874 farming households collected in 1997 in rural Thailand, we find that in villages adjacent to forest reserves, where the is a risk of expropriation, plots that are leased are more likely to be titled than those that are self cultivated. In other areas, however, land rights play no role in explaining the decision to lease land. In addition, a simple model is used to estimate an expropriation probability of 6 percent. These results indicate that tenants in frontier areas pay a premium for unsecured plots, and that government intervention may be needed to enhance the security of land owners.