Does Improved Tenure Security Reduce Fires? Evidence from the Greece Land Registry

Abstract

While tenure security is essential to effective land management, there is little empirical evidence on its environmental impact. We show that improving tenure security through cadastre survey and land registry reduces agricultural fires. Exploiting the staggered rollout of the Hellenic Cadastre program across Greece from 2014 to 2019, we find those regions covered by the mandatory land registry witnessed a decline in agriculture fire events by 17 percent and burned areas by 38 percent. The land registry is accompanied by large increases in farming areas, investments, and fire suppression equipment, along with less stubble burning. The evidence suggests improved tenure security incentivizes landowners to exert larger fire-suppression efforts to protect land-attached investments, and to practice more long-term oriented land management.