Emran, M. ShaheShilpi, Forhad2016-01-122016-01-122015-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/23624This paper analyzes the effects of land market restrictions on the rural labor market outcomes for women. The existing literature emphasizes two mechanisms through which land restrictions can affect the economic outcomes: the collateral value of land, and (in) security of property rights. Analysis of this paper focuses on an alternative mechanism where land restrictions increase costs of migration out of villages. The testable prediction of collateral effect is that both wages and labor force participation move in the same direction, and insecurity of property rights reduces labor force participation and increases wages. In contrast, if land restrictions work primarily through higher migration costs, labor force participation increases, while wages decline. For identification, this paper exploits a natural experiment in Sri Lanka where historical malaria played a unique role in land policy. This paper provides robust evidence of a positive effect of land restrictions on womens labor force participation, but a negative effect on female wages. The empirical results thus contradict a collateral or insecure property rights effect, but support migration costs as the primary mechanism.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOJOBSEMPLOYMENTRIGHTSPRODUCTIONPRELIMINARY EVIDENCECURRENT LABOR FORCEINFORMAL SECTORINFORMATION SYSTEMINCOMEPOLICY RESTRICTIONSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONLABOR ALLOCATIONRURAL WOMENRURAL LABOR MARKETSPROPERTY RIGHTSAGE GROUPLEVELS OF EDUCATIONINFORMATIONLABOR FORCEDEVELOPING COUNTRIESMONITORINGPOLITICAL ECONOMYEFFECTSINCENTIVESRURAL LABOR MARKETPOLICY DISCUSSIONSWAGE DETERMINATIONRURAL LABORETHNIC GROUPLABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONNATIONAL LEVELPUBLIC HEALTHADULT HEALTHKNOWLEDGEINTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONLABOR MARKETURBAN MIGRATIONSOCIAL IMPACTPOPULATION CENSUSPRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTSECONOMIC MOBILITYPOPULATION GROWTHPRODUCTIVITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITYNON-FARM EMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYEDMIGRATIONADOPTIONMARKETSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEORGANIZATIONSLAND OWNERSHIPCULTURAL CHANGEMIGRATION DATALABORADULT MALEMIGRANTSCURRENT POPULATIONMORTALITYGLOBAL DEVELOPMENTRESPECTFEMALE LABOREDUCATED WOMENPROGRESSSKILL PREMIUMRURAL WOMANHOUSEHOLD LEVELGENERAL EQUILIBRIUMINFANTHUMAN CAPITALWORKERSWAGESSOCIAL SERVICESREAL WAGELABOR DEMANDWOMANWOMEN WORKERSLABOR MARKET SEGMENTATIONPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERVALUEURBAN CENTERSEXOGENOUS CHARACTERISTICAGE GROUPSRURAL POVERTYPOPULATION DENSITYURBAN AREASKIDSLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESWAGE RATEHOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICSNUTRITIONLABOR MOBILITYMALE PARTICIPATIONMALARIABULLETINPRODUCTION FUNCTIONECONOMICSPOLICYQUALITY OF LIFEOLDER WOMENEQUILIBRIUM WAGESNUMBER OF WOMENPRODUCTIVITY LEVELADULT WOMENPREGNANT WOMENECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESLAND PRODUCTIVITYPARTICIPATION OF WOMENTHEORYPOPULATION MOVEMENTSSECURITYWARINVESTMENTMARKET EQUILIBRIUMRISKRURAL AREASILLNESSFEMALE LABOR FORCESUPPLYDISABILITYETHNO-LINGUISTIC FRACTIONALIZATIONHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONLABOR INTENSITYPOPULATIONLABOR SUPPLYLAWMARITAL STATUSCONSUMER PRICE INDEXINFECTION RATESLOCAL LABOR MARKETPOLICY RESEARCHGREEN REVOLUTIONWOMENLABOR MARKETSOUTCOMESMONITORING COSTSURBAN POPULATIONPRICESDEVELOPMENT POLICYEXCLUSION RESTRICTIONWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7524