This article reviews the methods and results of empirical studies analyzing the impact of land property rights on the performance of smallholder farmers in developing countries. The results of previous empirical studies are mixed about the real effects of land property rights. The heterogeneity of the results is related to both the evaluation techniques used and the local context of the tenure system’s management. However, the results converge toward an endogenous relationship between land property rights and smallholder farmers’ performance in contexts where customary land management is predominant.