Restoring property rights: The effects of land restitution on credit access
研究哥伦比亚2011年土地归还法对被迫流离失所者获取小额信贷的影响，发现该法提高了获得贷款的可能性和贷款规模，尤其在获得完全产权两年后效果最显著。
• The study investigates the consequences of a law mandating land restitution to victims of forced displacement in Colombia. • The main outcome is the access to microcredit. • The law increases the likelihood to access a credit and the size of the loan. • The effects are most pronounced two years after the restitution, when individuals gain full property rights. • Findings indicate the presence of both a demand effect and a reduction in credit rationing due to complementary policies. Victims of forced displacement and land dispossession are eligible for land restitution under a law approved in Colombia in 2011. These households are materially deprived and have limited access to the formal labor market, often resorting to informal entrepreneurship to improve their living conditions. For this, they need access to credit. We estimate the causal effect of the law on credit access, using the timing of the restitution as the source of identification in an event study approach. We analyze administrative data from the program and data from the census of credit transactions. Our findings reveal, on the extensive margin, a substantial increase in beneficiaries’ likelihood of obtaining a loan and, on the intensive margin, an increase in loan size. These effects are most pronounced two years after land restitution when individuals obtain the full property right. Although complementary policies partly drive this effect, the data suggest that demand for credit also increases, signaling restored trust.