Demand for second-stage land certification in Ethiopia: Evidence from household panel data

Ethiopia has implemented one of the largest, fastest and least expensive land registration and certification reforms in Africa. While there is evidence that this ‘first-stage’ land registration has had positive effects in terms of increased investment, land productivity and land rental market activities, the government is now piloting another round of land registration and certification that involves technically advanced land survey methods and computer registration. This ‘second-stage’ land registration differs from the registration system employed in the first round that used field markings in conjunction with neighbors’ recollections to identify plot borders. We use panel data from 600 households in southern Ethiopia to investigate household perceptions of and demand for such a new registration and certification. Our study revealed relatively low demand and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for second-stage certificates. The WTP also decreases significantly from 2007 to 2012. Our findings indicate that farmers do not believe that the second-stage certificate enhances tenure security relative to the first-stage certificate except in instances in which first-stage certification was poorly implemented. The demand for second-stage certificates appears to come primarily from governmental authorities, as it can provide a better basis for land administration and produce accessible public documentation of land-related affairs.     

Unravelling the dynamics of access to farmland in Tigray,Ethiopia: The ‘emerging land market’ revisited

This article uses ethnographic evidence from Tigray to revisit the debate on informal rural land markets in present-day Ethiopia. It explores informal farmland rental from a historico-anthropological, micro-analytical perspective in relation to the formal allocation of land use rights and to other informal land transfer practices. It shows how different rationales for land rental give rise to different socially embedded tenancy configurations. On the basis of this empirical evidence, the paper questions the appropriateness of the common idea that in Ethiopia ‘the land rental market is expanding’. It argues that research and policy thinking on land in Ethiopia could gain analytical power and relevance by adopting a less monolithic and abstract view on people's informal land transfer practices.     

长春市土地征用补偿区片综合价格的测算及应用分析

在详细介绍长春市土地征用补偿区片综合价格测算的基础上,简单介绍了长春市征地区片划分及结果.采用历史征地案例价格比较法与产值倍数法相结合的思路,初步测算了长春市征地补偿综合价格.最后对测算结果从总体价格水平及空间差异上进行了对比分析,并对此次测算成果的应用提出了建议.     

House prices and land regulation in the Copenhagen area

We analyse house prices from 1992 to 2011 in the metropolitan area of Copenhagen. In line with most other metropolitan areas in Europe, Copenhagen house prices showed solid increases during this period until 2007 when a downturn in prices began. The price gradient from the centre of the metropolis to the outskirts also became steeper over these years. We investigate the influence of land regulation on this development and find indications of an upward pressure on house prices from restrictive land regulation at the municipal as well as the national level.     

我国征地补偿制度改革探讨

土地征用制度是我国一项基本土地制度，征地过程是集体土地转变为国有土地的所有权转变过程，强制性和补偿性是其两个基本特征，但现行征地补偿范围和补偿标准仍是计划经济思路，已产生了诸多问题，对其进行改革实为必要；透视了我国现行征地补偿制度的特点和缺陷，在分析评价当前改革观点和实践尝试的基础上，提出了生存权补偿概念并给出了其计算模型，提出了按土地评估价格全额补偿的理念并探讨了其保障体系建设。     

On Crop Biodiversity, Risk Exposure, and Food Security in the Highlands of Ethiopia

This paper investigates the effects of crop genetic diversity on farm productivity and production risk in the highlands of Ethiopia. Using a moment-based approach, the analysis uses a stochastic production function capturing mean, variance, and skewness effects. Welfare implications of diversity are evaluated using a certainty equivalent, measured as expected income minus a risk premium (reflecting the cost of risk). We find that the effect of diversity on skewness dominates its effect on variance, meaning that diversity reduces the cost of risk. The analysis also shows that the beneficial effects of diversity become of greater value in degraded land.     

Dynamics and resource use efficiency of agricultural land sales and rental market in India

In a populous developing country such as India, developmental interventions are often woven around land, as this is the most critical resource in the livelihood support system of rural communities. In such a socio-economic environment, land has multiple uses. It is the most important source of income, a symbol of social status and prestige, and has very high collateral value for resource poor farm families. In these countries, the migration of rural workers to urban centers in search of employment, coupled with universal individual inheritance characteristics of land ownership, perpetuates the fragmentation of land holdings. In the majority of such cases, the point has been reached where land has become uneconomic and non-viable for cultivation. For farmers left with uneconomic land holdings there are only three options available; sell the land, rent it out, or lease land from others. In such scenarios land lease and land market policies assumes critical importance.     

Land management,erosion problems and soil and water conservation in Fincha’a watershed,western Ethiopia

The knowledge of soil erosion processes, attitude towards rational use of resources and institutional support affect the capability of farmers to implement soil and water conservation (SWC) measures. This research was conducted to determine soil erosion problems and the factors that affect the adoption of SWC measures in Fincha’a watershed, western Ethiopia. A total of 50 farmers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire, and two group discussions were held with 20 farmers. Moreover, transects were walked to classify erosion features, and a quantitative erosion survey was made on 19 farm plots during the rainy season of 2004. The results showed that crop fields are affected by annual soil losses ranging from 24 to 160 Mg ha⁻¹. Farmers are well aware of these erosion problems, and related the soil loss to steep slopes and a decline in soil fertility. However, they did not invest much in SWC measures, but apply soil management practices to sustain crop yields. The wealth status of farmers, land tenure arrangements and lack of access the farmers have to information are the major factors affecting SWC adoption. High labour demand of SWC measures, lack of short-term benefits and free grazing have negatively affected SWC adoption. Soil erosion problems in Fincha’a watershed have both on-site and off-site effects that require integrated SWC planning at watershed scale.     

Influence of purchaser perceptions and intentions on price for forest land parcels: A hedonic pricing approach

A hedonic model was developed to analyze the market for undeveloped forest land in Minnesota. Variables describing in situ conditions, locational characteristics, buyer perceptions and intentions, and transactional terms were tested for their influence on sale price. The independent variables explained 67% of the per hectare sale price variation. Water frontage, road access and density, absentee ownership, future intentions, and financing arrangements had large, positive influences on price. Lack of a real-estate agent and agricultural land in the vicinity of the parcel had negative influences. A parcel's merchantable timber volume was not a significant predictor of price.     

The Utilisation of Trade Preferences for Developing Countries in the Agri‐food Sector

Both the European Union and the United States grant non‐reciprocal preferences to developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences as well as under several regional schemes. The benefits of these preferences have recently been questioned. Several authors have pointed out the under‐utilisation of these preferences due to the constraints attached. There have been claims that rules of origin requirements and administrative costs, as well as uncertainty on eventual eligibility, have deterred exporters from using preferential regimes. We calculate various indicators of the utilisation of preferences in the agricultural, food and fisheries sector. We conclude that only a very small proportion of the imports eligible for these preferences is actually exported outside a preferential regime. The rate of utilisation is therefore high. However, the flow of imports from the poorest countries remains very limited in spite of rather generous tariff preferences, which leads to questions over the overall impact of the preferential agreements. In addition, preferential regimes overlap, and in such cases some regimes are systematically preferred to others. We use econometric estimates of the (latent) cost of using a given preference to explain why particular regimes are used. We focus on possible explanations, such as the cumulation rules (that restrict the use of materials originating from other countries), fixed administrative costs and differences in the preferential margin.     

Property taxation and rural land values: Their effect on private forestland ownership structure in Texas

The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of property tax and rural land market value on the ownership structure of private forestland in Texas. Using county-level panel data in an Instrumental Variable regression framework, we estimated the effect of property tax rate and rural land value on two measures of ownership fragmentation: the total number of private forest landowners and the average size of private forest holdings. The results indicate that after controlling for the total amount of private forest area in a county, both property tax rates and rural land values increased ownership fragmentation. However, the rate of ownership fragmentation was relatively inelastic in both property tax rate and rural land value. While further restructuring local property tax rates might minimize the negative effect on private ownership dynamics, policy instruments that decrease the disparity between productivity value and market value of rural forestland might be needed to check the ongoing ownership fragmentation in Texas and elsewhere in the United States.     

武汉市加强耕地保护的技术与政策措施

针对武汉市当前所面临的耕地面积持续减少、建设用地扩张及生态退耕力度加大等严峻形势与压力,提出新时期加强耕地保护工作的技术与政策措施;在思想观念上,提高认识,创新理念,进一步强化政府和市民的耕地保护意识;在政策上,加强规划实施管理与控制,完善建设用地总量控制,重点实施耕地的保护政策;在技术上,划定优质农地,计算耕地需求总量,加速土地资源信息化建设,实现耕地保护技术创新,建立和完善耕地保护的技术支撑体系;在制度上,建立耕地保护机制,加快耕地保护体制创新的步伐,促进土地制度建设,增强保护耕地的内在动力。     

常德市土地利用变化及空间格局研究

依据常德市1998￣2004年土地利用详查数据,运用多种数学模型对该市的土地利用类型及土地空间格局进行了定量、全面的分析研究;研究表明:①在1998￣2004年间,常德市耕地面积每年都在减少,是研究期内面积减少最快的土地利用类型;②武陵区、安乡县、汉寿县、石门县的土地利用处于发展期,而鼎城区、澧县、临澧县、津市市的土地利用处于调整期;③研究期内,该市的多样化指数排序并没有发生变化,武陵区土地类型多样化程度最高,石门的土地类型集中化程度最高。     

县级耕地后备资源调查评价的研究--以开封县为例

耕地后备资源调查评价在国土资源规划、管理、保护和合理利用方面,尤其是在县级土地开发整理规划及土地开发整理项目库建设方面有着重要的作用;阐述了县级耕地后备资源调查评价的目的、原则、任务及工作程序等,并以开封县耕地后备资源调查评价为例,分析了其土地开发整理效益,给出了土地开发整理方法、步骤和相关的政策。     

泉州市土地利用／土地覆盖变化的时空特征研究

采集了泉州市的统计数据,以行政区划权属内的县(市、区)为分析单元,分析了土地利用/土地覆盖的时间演变化趋势和空间变化差异特征;研究表明,泉州市2001-2006年工业化快速推进、区域经济高速增长期间,土地利用/土地覆盖数量变化的速度高于国内平均水平,其中.交通用地与居民点及工矿用地两类土地的增长幅度最大,达6.35%和3.06%;市辖区鲤城、洛江、泉港和晋江、南安区市明显快于德化、安溪、永春西部山区3县和其他区市;泉州市土地利用/土地覆盖变化的总体特征与区域经济发展、产业布局及其工业化、城市化演变的特征十分吻合.     

规范·安全·效益--谈银行如何规范土地储备贷款

银行信贷是土地收购储备之最重要的资金来源 ,在土地收购储备供应过程中 ,银行贷款作为一种投资行为 ,不可避免地存在着诸如负债风险、经营风险、政策风险、经济风险、不规范操作等风险。为规避这些风险 ,文章提出了掌握国家宏观政策 ,规范放款行为 ,分析可能风险 ,加强防范对策研究等项措施建议     

土地流转应维护农民利益 --四川成都农村土地流转调查分析

农民的相对弱势地位,农村土地集体化色彩的放大以及农村集体的异化,为地方政府甚至官员使得目前广泛推行的土地流转特别是借征用之名强制流转而忽视农民的利益,造成农民失去赖以生存的土地而只得到低补偿费用。文章提出归还农民的基本权利,加强依法行政,规范土地流转(征用)程序,完善监督机制,确保土地流转不伤害农民,在维持其正常生活(生存)的基础上合理、有效地进行土地征用和流转。     

对南京市征地补偿及安置办法的思考

随着工业化和城市化的不断推进和发展，为保障工业用地和城市用地的需求，土地征用不可避免。但在征地过程中，由于征地制度本身存在的缺陷和不足，不同程度地给被征地农民的利益造成损害，增加了他们失地后的生存风险。针对这一问题，各地积极探索解决问题的各种方法和措施。本文拟以南京市为例，分析自2000年以来南京市实行的两种征地补偿及安置办法的变化，分析现行补偿寄置方式存在的不足，在此基础上，提出完善该制度的办法和措施。     

城市土地利用评价研究--以河北省为例

通过对河北省城市土地利用状况的实证分析,认为河北省城市土地处于相对低效利用状态,城市土地具有很大的人口容纳潜力和产出增长弹性;提出了促进河北省城市土地高效利用的对策建议。     

葫芦岛市耕地数量变化及其驱动力研究

以1998-2007年的统计资料为基础,分析了葫芦岛市近10年的耕地数量变化特点;通过主成分分析法,对引起耕地数量变化的驱动力进行了研究。结果表明,经济发展、人口增长以及农业科技进步是影响葫芦岛市耕地数量变化的三大驱动力;据此提出了葫芦岛市的耕地保护对策。