Environmental amenities and optimal agricultural land use: The case of Israel

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of changing land allocation among crops as a mechanism for increasing net-social benefits, where production profits and amenity values are augmented. A positive mathematical programming model is calibrated and applied to 43 regions in the northern part of Israel, using a crop-discriminating amenity-value function. Changes in land allocation increase net-social benefits by 2.4% nationwide and by up to 15% on the regional level, where in some regions the net-social-benefits-increase/profit-loss ratio exceeds 20. Therefore, the results indicate that a policy encouraging amenity-enhancement of agricultural land use is warranted, provided that it is implemented on a regional scale, rather than as a comprehensive nationwide-enforced program.     

Search, migration, and urban land use: The case of transportation policies

We develop a search-matching model with rural-urban migration and an explicit land market. Wages, job creation, urban housing prices are endogenous and we characterize the steady-state equilibrium. We then consider three different policies: a transportation policy that improves the public transport system in the city, an entry-cost policy that encourages investment in the city and a restricting-migration policy that imposes some costs on migrants. We show that all these policies can increase urban employment but the transportation policy has much more drastic effects. This is because a decrease in commuting costs has both a direct positive effect on land rents, which discourages migrants to move to the city, and a direct negative effect on urban wages, which reduces job creation and thus migration. When these two effects are combined with search frictions, the interactions between the land and the labor markets have amplifying positive effects on urban employment. Thus, improving the transport infrastructure in cities can increase urban employment despite the induced migration from rural areas.     

Residential energy use and conservation: Economics and demographics

Energy consumption in the residential sector offers an important opportunity for conserving resources. However, much of the current debate regarding energy efficiency in the housing market focuses on the physical and technical determinants of energy consumption, neglecting the role of the economic behavior of resident households. In this paper, we analyze the extent to which the use of gas and electricity is determined by the technical specifications of the dwelling as compared to the demographic characteristics of the residents. Our analysis is based on a sample of more than 300,000 Dutch homes and their occupants. The results indicate that residential gas consumption is determined principally by structural dwelling characteristics, such as the vintage, building type, and characteristics of the dwelling, while electricity consumption varies more directly with household composition, in particular income and family composition. Combining these results with projections on future economic and demographic trends, we find that, even absent price increases for residential energy, the aging of the population and their increasing wealth will roughly offset improvements in the energy efficiency of the building stock resulting from policy interventions and natural revitalization.     

The SLCP-driven land use changes and farmers' responses in the loess hilly and gully region: a case study for Ansai County

Taking Ansai County, located in loess hilly and gully area as a case, this study analyzes the land use changes driven by the SLCP (Slope Land Conversion Program) and the farmers' responses by household survey and participatory rapid appraisal (PRA).It is found that the SLCP aroused various changes in land use, agricultural production, rural incomes, etc.In the period of 1999-2005, the farmland and grasslands were reduced by 26, 809 ha and 17,571 ha respectively, while forestland increased by 38,203 ha:greenhouse vegetable and orchard got a quick development, with the area enlarged by about 7 times and nearly doubled respectively.The SLCP reduced the area of crops particularly those that normally grown on slope lands, e.g.the sowing area of winter wheat dropped from 19.39% of the total cropping area in 1999 to 0.98% in 2005.Draught animals, pigs and sheep have a decline in the number because the remained land and the ban on grazing on natural grasslands can not provide sufficient feed forage.Thanks to the financial subsidy, farmers increased land inputs and thus outputs.To achieve long-term sustainable development and improve rural income, the government should continuously support farmers to improve the land management, to adopt alternative land use systems, and to increase inputs on soil conservation.Vegetable and fruit production are two promise land use systems, and should be further developed.     

Comprehensive evaluation of regional ecological security for land use: a case study of Yanchi County, Ningxia Province

As an abstract study conception, most researches of ecological security generally are macro-scale theoretical study with a regional, national or global perspective. Micro-scale research mainly concentrates on ecological risk, ecosystem health and ecosystem safety. In order to assess regional ecological security and to accomplish the transition from micro-scale to macro-scale research, a Driving-Function-State-Output-Respond model framework （DFSOR model） is put forward in this paper according to the analyses on regional population, society, economy resources, environment and ecological risks＇. In empirical research an index system is set out to evaluate ecological security of land use. The DFSOR model comprises five group of indicators： （1） driving indicators, which include social population pressure and economic pressure; （2）function indicators, which include human function, hydrodynamic function, wind function and gravity.function; （3） state indicators, which include soil resources, water resources and land use/land cover; （4） output indicators, which include production output and ecological risk output; （5） response indicators, which are composed of all sorts of policies and measures for improving production of ecosystem. The method and procedure for ecological security evaluation is put forward based on DFSOR model as well. In the case study, Yanchi, the ecotone between agriculture and animal husbandry, is chosen for the study. An index system is built to evaluate ecological security based on the evaluation of regional ecological risks which including sandification, water erosion, soil salinization, soil pollution and shortage of water. The comprehensive evaluation result shows the regional ecological security index of land use in the research area increase obviously. But it is still in the state of low-graded danger.     

Rural collective construction land use in China: Policy issues and options

Land policy in China has been changed dramatically in the past two decades. Though the reform of rural farm land and the urban construction land has been launched successively, little has been done about the rural construction land by now, which has made a negative impact to the land utilization. This paper fi rst reviews the policy terms about the rural construction land, then gives a brief critique on them under the background of social-economic transformation in China, and discusses the driving forces and implications of institutional changes in the end. We think the further reform on the rural collective construction land is imperative. Firstly, as a production factor, it should be endowed with property attribute, and secondly the use right of rural construction land should be separated from its ownership so that it can be transacted in a competitive market, which will benefi t the building of harmonious society.     

Participatory decision-making in land use planning: An application in Costa Rica

The economic, social and environmental implications of electricity generation for land use planning are a significant and complex problem in many countries. One reason for this complexity is the existence of several stakeholders with very different views or perceptions of the different criteria underlying the decision-making process. Therefore, the aggregation of individual stakeholder preferences into a single collective preference is a crucial problem. In this paper, this type of problem is addressed with the help of a methodology based upon the definition of a consensus within a distance-based framework. The methodology is applied to a case study in Costa Rica at two levels: at a national level and at a river basin level. The River Birrís was chosen because the conflict of interests between agricultural production and electricity generation are especially significant in this basin.     

土地利用规划中的资源环境经济核算

基于区域土地利用总体规划及其实施管理，建立相应的资源环境经济核算体系，主要目的是更换经济及土地利用活动的“指挥棒”，引导政府和企业法人将发展区域经济、优化土地利用结构和改善生态环境质量有机地结合起来。[编者按]     

国外棕地治理对我国城市闲置土地利用的启示

棕地作为工业化发展导致的一种闲置土地的类型其在国外的相关研究已比较深入,将其引入为我国闲置土地利用研究提供借鉴具有重要意义。通过介绍棕地的概念内涵及国外主要国家的棕地治理模式,将棕地和我国闲置土地进行对比分析,借鉴国外棕地的再利用模式,为我国闲置土地研究及再利用提供一些经验启示,并从中寻找适合我国闲置土地再利用的治理模式。     

The use of DRCs to evaluate indigenization programs: The case of the ivory coast

The DRC methodology is extended to evaluate education programs for purposes of indigenization. Such programs can be likened to an import-substitution activity in which local labor is produced to replace previously imported skilled foreign labor. The method is then applied to the problem of expatriate labor replacement in the Ivory Coast.     

Economics and underdetermination: a case study of urban land and housing economics

Underdetermination, associated with the Duhem–Quine thesis,is a familiar if under-researched theme in economics. In thelight of this, we examine the development of urban land andhousing economics. Through its Cartesian dualistic delineationof theory and data, the contemporary mainstream approach appearsunable to circumvent the problem of underdetermination. In effect,it employs the strong version of Duhem–Quine in its retentionof the assumption of a single, unitary competitive market (andassociated access–space trade-off). Conversely, we highlightthe affinity of Ely's (and the later Columbia School's) approachto pragmatists Dewey and Peirce, which provides a more fruitfulbasis for explanation.     

Decoupling of grain production from land resources in China:Land use reduced but fertilizer and water use intensified

The issue of grain security in China is attracting global attention. In this research, we analyze the relationship between grain production and cropland resources. The results indicate that decoupling of these two variables is realized at the national level, and fertilizer and irrigation play increasingly important roles in grain production. Of the 18 principal grain producing provinces, seven showed absolute decoupling, three showed relative decoupling, five showed quasi-relative decoupling, and three provinces showed coupling. Also, the relative importance of fertilizer and irrigation in grain production is different among the four different modes of coupling/decoupling.     

Variation of land use structure in Chuzhou City, China： 1996-2005

Nowadays the fast economic development has brought about serious conflicts between the limited land resources and the increasing land demand in Chuzhou City.The changes of land use structure also restrict economic development and society progress in this area.Because different cities have different functional localization,the city area and each county （city） have formed characteristic land utilization structure.It is of great significance to make rational use of land resources and ensure the sustainable use of land resources by analyzing the variation of land use structure in the city area and each county （city） in Chuzhou City.Based on the data of land use modification of Chuzhou City from 1996 to 2005 and adopting the quantitative analysis of landscape ecology,this paper studies quantitatively the temporal division of regional land use structure and its dynamic changes.The results indicate that： （1） this method can reveal the law of the variation; （2） the variation of land use structure in Chuzhou City： increasing diversification,evenness and heterogeneity; （3） the intensity of change in land use from 1996 to 2005 in the city appeared in the sequence： grass land〉traffic land〉garden land〉virgin land〉forest land〉industrial and residential land〉cultivated land〉other agricultural land〉water facility land; （4） there were remarkable differences between the city area and each county （city） in the relative change and the land use structure change from 1996 to 2005.This paper analyzes the variation of land use structure in Chuzhou City,and finally proposes related countermeasures and suggestions.     

制度变迁中土地产权的性质与合约选择:一个有关合作经济的案例分析

This paper discusses an evolutionary process of rural collective property rights or agricultural cooperation economy in detail. We convince that both the evolution of the household contract system and the rural cooperation economy in the market elaborate the key position of property rights’ multi-attribute in the formation of contract structure and organization shape. If there were strong externality between several elements of household, the collective property rights should be chosen. __________ Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2008, (6): 61–67, 94     

Taxation, collateral use of land, and Japanese asset prices

Japan experienced a significant increase in land and stock prices in the late 1980s and a subsequent reversal in these asset prices in the 1990s. I use a neoclassical growth model to determine how much of these asset price movements can be accounted for by the observed changes in output growth and land-related taxation. In the model, corporations issue land-collateralized debt to reduce their tax liabilities, and the government follows a land-taxation policy that is countercyclical to land prices. Without these features, the model cannot generate any significant change in land values, even with a permanent increase in the growth rate of the economy, because a permanent increase in the growth rate results in a comparable increase at the rate at which agents discount future returns. The collateral use of land and countercyclical land-tax policy introduce a substantial magnification mechanism for asset prices by reducing the required return on land. I calibrate the model to Japanese data, and conduct steady-state experiments and deterministic simulations. I show that if the observed increase in the growth rate of productivity and the decline in land taxes were expected to be permanent by market participants, then the model can by and large account for the movements in land and stock prices, but has counterfactual predictions regarding the behavior of capital. If agents expect the observed changes in the fundamentals to be temporary, then the model cannot generate a significant increase in these asset prices.     

On the transaction values of land use rights in rural China

Land Use Rights (LURs) in China affect farmers’ productivity through investment incentives and the way land is allocated across households. LURs have implication and trade-offs between equity and growth. This paper examines how Chinese farmers might respond if the Chinese government made it legal for farmers to buy or sell LURs. Livelihood choices, labor substitution, market infrastructure, a lack of property right protections, entrepreneurship, bureaucracy, and political will are all influential factors that will determine whether such a program would work. The purpose of this paper is to examine the economics of transaction in LURs, estimate the value at which LURs could transact in equilibrium, and to analyze factors that would affect these price changes. We evaluate farmer’s intention to buy and sell LURs and how much they are willing to pay and receive for LURs.     

Incentives,regulations, and sustainable land use in Costa Rica

Deforestation in Costa Rica has proceeded at a rapid pace. Of the remaining 2,700 km² of virgin forests on privately-owned land, over 300 km² are being deforested each year. Pressure on National Parks, which cover about 27 percent of Costa Rica is likely to increase in the future. Preliminary information indicates that, contrary to our expectations, most of the deforestation at present is not being done by squatters, but driven by profit and asset maximization motives of the timber industry, banana companies, and large cattle ranchers. Setting aside 27 percent of the country's land as parks and reserves was a major policy decision. Aside from the removal of some perverse incentives operating inside park areas, the main issue there is one of sound management, including protection from intruders, strengthening enforcement, and controlled tourism. On the remaining primary and secondary forest areas on privately-owned land outside the parks, a key question is whether public interests connected with external costs of deforestation warrant public intervention. The paper suggests that a differentiated approach to this and other questions is needed, depending on the costs and benefits involved, and it discusses incentives and regulations which influence land use, and makes proposals for reforms.     

Natural carbon capture and storage (NCCS): Forests,land use and carbon accounting

The use of forests as natural carbon capture and storage sinks is considered by introducing carbon sequestration benefits’ accounting in a multi-vintage partial equilibrium land-use model, under different carbon price scenarios. The consequences to timber and land markets and to the profile of the carbon sequestration time path are examined in the short-run, long-run, and transition. Following IPCC, three carbon accounting methods are considered: the carbon flow, the ton-year crediting and the average storage. A full proof of long-run optimality of steady-state forest is provided. Numerical simulations are performed and results discussed illustrating the setup's potential.     

Land use change, biomass production and HANPP: The case of Hungary 1961-2005

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the human appropriation of aboveground net primary production (aHANPP) in Hungary in the years 1961-2005. In this period aboveground HANPP dropped from 67% to 49% of the potential vegetation's NPP. The trajectory was not smooth, but aboveground HANPP fluctuated with changes in factors affecting agricultural production conditions. Both aboveground net primary production (aNPP) of the prevailing vegetation and harvested aNPP increased during the socialist regime, dropped when the system collapsed and has shown considerable fluctuations since. We discuss the development of aboveground HANPP and the Hungarian land use system in the context of socioeconomic changes during three distinct phases: (1) industrialisation of agriculture (1961-1989), (2) regime collapse (1989-1993) and (3) restructuring of a new economy (1993-2005). Within these periods, different driving factors influenced aboveground HANPP and its constituents. In the phase of industrialisation, mechanisation and agrochemical inputs reduced aHANPP while harvested amounts of biomass increased progressively. In the second phase, political and economic circumstances devastated production conditions resulting in a decline of productivity of actual vegetation and a temporary rise in aboveground HANPP. During the last twelve years, industrialisation patterns of agricultural production recovered. The restructuring of inefficient agricultural production systems raised harvest at moderate levels of agricultural inputs, while climatic conditions intimidated high yield and harvest security. The paper discusses the effect of different economic and political regimes and of major socioeconomic restructuring on the development of the land use system, biomass production and aboveground HANPP.