Gender studies


I have studied the different resource situations of female and male headed households and how these affect their behaviour and welfare since my early work in Zambia in the 1980s. The gender division of labour within households was also an important factor that I had to take into account as e.g. in northern Zambia females were not allowed to climb trees to cut branches for their swidden fields. Similarly, in Ethiopia women are not supposed to plough with oxen and therefore female-headed households without access to male labour may be forced to rent out their land as they are unable to cultivate it themselves. My later work includes work  on

     a) how insecure porperty rights for female household heads affect their land rental activity and ability to enforce contracts and enhance the productivity on their sharecropped out and owner-operated land in Ethiopia.

     b) how providing joint land certificates to husbands and wives affect the position of women within housholds, including polygamous households in southern Ethiopia where women traditionally have a weak position (as property of their husbands and families rather than as equal owners of natural resource endowments).

Some recent publications:

Holden, S. T. and Tilahun, M. (2022). Are risk preferences explaining gender differences in investment behavior? Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics Link

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2022.101949


Holden, S. T. (2022). The Gender Dimensions of Land Tenure Reforms in Ethiopia 1995-2020. Chapter 12 in Uchendu Eugene Chigbu (Ed.) Land Governance and Gender: The Tenure-Gender Nexus in Land Management and Land Policy, CABI, pp. 143-152. 


Holden, S. T. and Tilahun, M. (2022). Gender differences in investments and risk preferences. CLTS Working Paper No. 2/2022. Center for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway.


Holden, S. T. and Tilahun, M. (2021). Mobile phones, leadership and gender in rural business groupsWorld Development Perspectives, doi: 10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100370


Holden, S. T. (2020). Gender dimensions of land tenure reforms in Ethiopia 1995-2020. CLTS Working Paper No. 6/2020. Center for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway. 


Holden, S. T., Tilahun, M., Vorlaufer, T. and Engel, S. (2020). The effects of gender empowerment training on within-group gender differences in performance and overall group performance: A Pre-Analysis Plan. CLTS Report No. 1/2020. Center for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway


Holden, S. T. and Tilahun, M. (2020). Farm size and gender distribution of land: Evidence from Ethiopian land registry data. World Development 130: doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104926  Link


Holden, S. T. and Tilahun, M. (2018). Gender Digital Divide and Youth Business Group Leadership. CLTS Crking Paper No. 5/2018. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway. Link


Holden, S. T. and Tilahun, M. (2018). Gender Differences in Risk Tolerance, Trust and Trustworthiness: Are They Related? CLTS Working Paper No. 3/2018. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway. Link


Deininger, K., Xia, F. and Holden, S. T. (2018). Gendered Incidence and Impacts of Tenure Insecurity on Agricultural Performance in Malawi’s Customary Tenure System. Journal of Development Studies Link


Bezabih, M., Holden, S. T. and Mannberg, A. (2016). The Role of Land Certification in Reducing Gaps in Productivity between Male- and Female-Owned Farms in Rural Ethiopia. Journal of Development Studies 52(3): 360–376. Link


Bezu, S. and Holden, S.T. (2015). Generosity and sharing among villagers:Do women give more?. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 57: 103-111. Link


Holden, Stein T. and Sosina Bezu (2014). Are Wives less Selfish than their Husbands? Evidence from Hawk-Dove Game Field Experiments. CLTS Working Paper No. 3/2014. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. Link


Holden, S. T. and S. Bezu (2014). Intra-household Coordination, Cooperation and Pareto-efficiency: Lab-in-the-Field Hawk-Dove Game Experiments, by-Paper presented at the Norwegian Economists' Annual Conference, January 6-7th, 2014. Link


Holden, Stein T. and Sosina Bezu (2013). Joint Land Certification and Intra-household Decision-making: Towards Empowerment of Wives?. CLTS Working Paper No. 14/2013. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. Link


Bezu, Sosina and Stein T. Holden (2013). Generosity and social distance in dictator game field experiments with and without a face. CLTS Working Paper No. 1/2013. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. Link. Powerpoint


Mintewab Bezabih, Stein T. Holden and Andrea Mannberg (2012). The Role of Land Certification in Reducing Gender Gaps in Productivity in Rural Ethiopia. CLTS Working Paper No. 1/2012. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. Link


Holden, S. T., Deininger, K. and Ghebru, H. (2011). Tenure Insecurity, Gender, Low-cost Land Certification and Land Rental Market Participation. Journal of Development Studies 47(1), 31-47. Link


Holden, S. T. and Bezabih, M. (2008). Gender and Land Productivity on Rented Out Land: Evidence from Ethiopia. In Holden, S. T., Otsuka, K. and Place, F. (Eds.). The Emergence of Land Markets in Africa: Impacts on Poverty and Efficiency. Resources For the Future Press, Washington D.C. Link 


Holden, S. T. and Tefera, T. (2008). From Being the Property of Men to Becoming Equal Owners? Early Impacts of Land Registration and Certification on Women in Southern Ethiopia. Final Research Report submitted to  UN-HABITAT, Shelter Branch, Land Tenure and Property Administration Section. Nairobi. Link


Holden, S. T. and Tefera, T. (2008). Early Impacts of Land Registration and Certification on Women in Southern Ethiopia. Summary Report, UN-HABITAT, Shelter Branch, Land Tenure and Property Administration Section. Nairobi. Link


Bezabih, M. and Holden, S. T. (2006). Tenure insecurity, transaction costs in the land lease market and their implications for gendered productivity differentials. 26th International Conference of the International Agricultural Economics Association, Brisbane, Australia, 12-18. August, 2006. Link


Holden, S. T., Kaarhus, R. and Lunduka, R. (2006). Land Policy Reform: The Role of Land Markets and Women's Land Rights in Malawi. Noragric Report No. 36, Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), Ås. Link

SteinHolden.Com © 2009 • Privacy Policy • Terms of Use