The retail warehouse: A hybrid form of development

Summary

The paper examines the property market aspects of retail warehouse development. To set the context for the discussion, the history of the development of retail warehouses is traced, highlighting the increasing sophistication of this form of trading and comparing the future development prospects in each of the three main goods sectors. Comparative rental evidence provides the basis for the discussion of the relative influences of the retail and industrial property markets which follows, from which it is evident that the market for retail warehouses is much more strongly related to the industrial market than to the retail market. It is concluded, however, that the influence of the industrial market is likely to weaken as grouped developments of retail warehouses become more common and thus a ranking of centres emerges which is reflected in increasingly differentiated rental levels. Finally, the impact of planning policies on retail warehouse developments is considered.     

中国农户在农地流转市场上能否如愿以偿?——流转市场的交易成本考察

农地流转是实现规模经营的重要途径,尽管中国农地流转市场发展迅速,但农户在流转市场上能否转入自己想要转入数量的土地尚无人关注。本文利用全国6省1200户2000年和2008年追踪调查数据实证分析农户的流转意愿多大程度上可以在流转市场上得以实现,进而考察流转市场交易成本的存在性、对称性和动态性。研究表明,中国农地流转市场存在明显的交易成本,因此流转市场是不完善的。具体结论:第一,流转市场存在明显进入门槛,进入市场后农户也无法实现完全调整,转入户2000年和2008年分别能实现调整意愿的24%和37%,高于转出户的19%和18%;第二,流转市场的交易成本存在非对称性,转入户比转出户面临的交易门槛高,但进入市场后转入户调整意愿实现程度高于转出户;第三,从2000年到2008年,流转市场的交易门槛显著降低了,但进入市场后调整意愿实现程度并没有显著提高;第四,农资设备和劳动力等要素市场的不完善程度更严重,因此农地流转市场发挥了将土地这种"不能移动"的要素移动起来以迎合那些"本该移动"的要素功能,提高了资源配置效率。政府应进一步提高农地产权稳定性,降低流转市场交易成本,加快农业生产社会化服务业发展,完善农村劳动力市场。     

A Note on the Economic Significance of Dwellings on Farms

Using information from the Farm Business Survey for England and Wales, the paper explores the economic contribution of farm dwellings to the farm business in 1983 and 1993. Despite the stagnant property market and increasing farm incomes in the early 1990s, rent revenues rose as a proportion of net farm incomes. Including a low imputed rental value for farmhouses in farm income calculations may mean that incomes are being understated. Returns from letting property and a low imputed rent for the farmhouse help to stabilise farm incomes.     

Property finance in the UK in the post‐war period

Summary

This paper is intended to introduce readers to the subject of property finance and to provide a review of post‐war trends in property finance and investment. In particular, it considers the growth and influence of institutional investment. The property ‘myth’ is examined in the light of recent analysis of the rental performance of commercial and industrial property, and the obsolescence of buildings.     

关系治理还是契约治理：农地流转治理结构的 转型逻辑与区域差异研究

研究目的：为完善农地产权制度和要素市场化配置机制,从制度、经济与文化三个层面分析农地流转治理结构的转型逻辑与区域差异。研究方法：逻辑演绎法,Biprobit模型。研究结果：（1）促进农地流转从关系治理向契约治理转型的核心驱动因素是产权的界定与实施、流转租金的上涨和人情往来的减少。（2）农地流转治理结构及其转型逻辑存在明显的区域异质性。东部和西部地区更偏向契约治理,中部地区更偏向关系治理。在驱动因素上,东部地区较高的流转租金和完善的土地流转服务是主要的转型驱动力,中部地区的人情文化传统较深,阻碍了农地流转的市场化转型,西部地区的土地确权颁证率较高,发挥出了明显的确权效应。研究结论：（1）完善的农地产权制度是农地流转市场的基石,不仅要保障产权明晰,还要构建有效的产权实施机制;（2）经济利益是驱动农地流转市场转型的重要因素,要促进农地价值形成合理的价格参照系;（3）文化观念是农地流转市场转型的重要支撑,要协调好市场观念与文化传统之间的关系;（4）需因地制宜地推进农地流转市场转型。     

High-impact information types on market value: property appraisers’ information sources and assessment confidence

This explanatory paper describes and analyses which types of information professional property appraisers perceive to have the most impact on a commercial property’s estimated market value, which information sources they primarily use, and how reliable they perceive the information sources to be. The paper also investigates whether appraisers’ perceptions differ depending on the location of the business. A sample of 67 authorised property appraisers in Sweden was surveyed using the repertory grid technique as a questionnaire tool (to investigate unconscious behaviour), and non-parametric statistics. Analyses of the data show that four types of information have the greatest impact on estimated market value: the local environment and location are perceived as reliable, and property appraisers have confidence in those assessments; rental income seems problematic, because the property owner is the major source of information; and property appraisers are not confident in assessments based on discount rates. This pattern holds for various geographical locations.     

Land tenure and rental in Western Sudan

This paper reports on aspects of land tenure in western Sudan, especially the nature of tenure insecurity and the functioning of the land rental market. The active land rental market accounted for about one-third of cultivated land. Patterns of land rental transactions, and tests of the importance of insecurity in renting land, where the owner may not be able to reclaim land rented out, do not support the presumption that rental markets perform poorly. The role of the sheikh as administrator of village land, and the claims of large landowners to vast tracts, are, however, important political problems that must be resolved before attempts at ‘rationalizing’ land tenure.     

Institutional attitudes to property investment in the UK — last waltz of the dinosaurs round the ‘prime property’ totem pole?

Summary

Institutions which own and develop property are just beginning to recognize that they are offering a product which no longer enjoys a guaranteed market with ever increasing returns. In the increasingly difficult and discerning letting markets of the 1980's they are having to accept that the price (both in rental and capital terms) of the product they own and offer will depend entirely on how it meets the needs of their customers, the tenants. Like many other quasi‐monopolists used to operating in protected markets in the past, they may find the process of adjusting to this new world goes further, last longer and hurts more than they expect. Against that background, the traditional distinctions between ‘prime’, ‘secondary’ and ‘tertiary’ property in the investment market, as well as the old dividing lines between the office, industrial and retail categories are beginning to break down. Hillier Parker, for example, have published research suggesting that rents of secondary shop properties grew much faster than ‘prime’ rents over the past five years. The lowest yields, and highest prices, rents and investment ratings must eventually come together to produce an explosion of relative value in the locations and buildings with the best record and prospect of growing tenant demand.     

The roles of risk preferences,selection, and uncertain returns on land contracts

Using panel data on a statistically representative sample of Iowa farmland parcels from 1997 to 2017, we analyze the factors determining whether land is farmed by the owner or rented out under a cash rent or crop share contract. The landowner's decision to rent or operate the land depends on the distribution of expected net returns to the land, and so estimates of the factors affecting rental terms will be biased if the sample only includes rental contracts and excludes the owner-operator. Land with higher mean and/or lower variance of expected net returns is most likely to be rented out. Participants in the rental market will include the most risk-averse landowners and the least risk-averse tenants, while the least risk-averse landowners operate their own land. Our empirical results suggest that the rising use of cash rent contracts and declining incidence of owner-operation and crop-share rental contracts is consistent with falling coefficient of variation in expected net returns per acre.     

The influence of valuation practices upon the price of vacant inner city land

Summary

Many earlier studies have provided useful statistical information on the extent of vacant land in British towns and cities, but few have attempted to relate land vacancy to the wider development process. This paper presents recent evidence from Inner Manchester which suggests that valuation practices operate to prevent inner city land prices from falling even in areas of apparent over‐supply. This creates a blockage in the development process. It is shown that asking prices for vacant sites currently on the market are often substantially in excess of the level of prices achieved in recent transactions. As the great waves of compulsory acquisition in Manchester are now over, the statutory rules of valuation do not account for this difference, although historic levels of value have been supported by recent local authority acquisitions by agreement. It is evident that the comparative method of valuation is unable to cope with few transactions or a declining economy, both of which characterize the inner city land market. As a result, inner city land prices appear to be revised downwards only slowly and reluctantly in response to lack of demand or excess supply.     

Self‐service mini‐storage facilities: An American property phenomenon

Summary

Self‐service mini‐storage facilities normally occupy two or three acres and contain about 500 or 600 small independent units totalling about 50 000 ft². They are a profitable and widespread investment in the US and fulfill small‐scale community needs. Users, who rent on a monthly basis, are households and businesses with small scale storage needs. Main road locations, in above average income areas, and tight security are keys to success. Management is effected by a live‐in on‐site manager and by a simple tenancy agreement. The main planning problems are access, visual intrusion and the control of undesirable uses. The author speculates on the success of this property concept on its transfer to Britain.     

Assessing Market Efficiency

Abstract

Government regulations through import licensing and “seasonal calendars” entail large transaction costs for traders operating in the fruit and vegetable wholesale market in Oman. Monitoring and enforcing these market regulations increase search costs and reduce market efficiency. The objective of this study is to develop a methodology to categorize and measure transactions costs by analyzing traders perceptions and attitude toward regulatory measures, and other market activities. Results show that importers operating at Al-Mawaleh market face the highest level of transaction costs. The changing nature of import calendar as well as the import license procedure represents significant elements of uncertainty that rise the importers' search and monitoring costs. It is suggested that the conversion of these non-tariff barriers into tariffs along WTO rules would reduce market uncertainty and increase market efficiency.     

The factors influencing the profitability of leased land on dairy farms in Ireland

The Republic of Ireland possesses a land market that is constrained by minimal sales each year, less than 1%. In an effort to capitalise on milk quota abolition and to increase dairy production, a suite of tax incentives has recently been introduced in the Republic of Ireland to encourage land mobility and long-term leasing among Irish dairy farmers. Using Irish Farm Accountancy Database Network (FADN) data from 2011–2017 to examine this, a Heckman sample selection model explores two aspects; (i) the factors that influence a farmer’s decision to rent, or continue renting, land and (ii) the profitability of dairy farmers renting in land. We find self-selection into the rental market is driven by farm traits that include a high level of hired labour, the presence of a successor, intensive farming practices and dairy discussion group membership. The results show that rental agreements assist farms in achieving economies of scale. The findings provide evidence to support government intervention such as tax incentives for renting out land and knowledge sharing discussion groups.     

Livestock and land share contracts in a Hindu society

This article examines factors related to a livestock rental market in western Nepal and assesses whether this market is associated with caste differentiation and land rental market participation. Theoretical models for asset‐rich (i.e., high‐caste) households, rich in land and livestock, and asset‐poor (i.e., low‐caste families) households are presented to provide logical explanations for the existence of a livestock rental market and the synergy between livestock and land rental markets participation. A combination of double hurdle models and bivariate‐ordered probit models were used to test the implications of the models. Consistent with the theoretical models, land‐ and livestock‐rich high‐caste households were more likely to rent out land and/or livestock, whereas land‐ and livestock‐poor and credit constrained low‐caste households were more likely to rent livestock and land from others. Participation in the two markets was positively correlated, indicating a synergistic relationship that may be due to production and transaction costs reducing benefits. Policies that can enhance the allocative efficiency of livestock and land rental markets can improve equity as well as efficiency of land use in Nepal. Provision of livestock credit to land‐poor low‐caste households is also crucially dependent on their access to more long‐term contracts for land.     

Drivers of transaction costs affecting participation in the rental market for cropland in Vietnam

Farm incomes in rural Vietnam are tightly constrained by very small farm sizes. Stringent limits on the area of cropland that individuals may own means that farmers need a well‐functioning rental market to consolidate land parcels, grow their farm enterprises, adopt new technology and increase incomes. This research investigates the efficiency and equity impacts of the rental market in rural Vietnam and attempts to identify transaction costs impeding the market. A generalised ordered logit model with shifting thresholds allowing transaction costs to impact lessors and lessees differently was specified and estimated using data extracted from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys. The findings show that rental transactions reduced imbalances in factor endowments, transferring cropland to households that were relatively land‐poor but more willing and able to farm. However, the market is constrained by transaction costs that affect lessors and lessees differently. It is recommended that government should complete its land registration program and relax restrictions on the use of wetlands to grow crops other than rice. It should also improve access to all‐weather roads as this encourages participation on both sides of the rental market, whereas better access to communications infrastructure was found to promote only the supply side.     

Problems of defining a cooperative as an economic organisation

Abstract

Despite its importance in terms of volumes and value, little previous work has been undertaken to model quantitatively the UK timber market. This article sets out to provide a simple econometric analysis of this market, considering the influences of both home‐grown and imported production, and in so doing to define an economic model which is robust to alterations in data period and which provides us with useful forecasting capabilities.     

Market Failure and Japanese Farmland Rents

Since the early 1950s, Japanese farmland rents have been regulated and a consensus emerged that rent control led to market failure. Hypothesising a rent‐formation model where rents are determined by prices, this paper estimates a threshold autoregressive model which integrates three tests of market failure, namely, inefficiency, bias and asymmetry. There are four results. First, a long‐run relationship exists between rents and prices, and the Japanese farmland rental market is efficient. Second, the rent‐price elasticity is unity and the market is unbiased. Third, rents are Granger‐caused by prices which supports the rent‐formation model. Fourth, asymmetry exists where more rapid error‐correction occurs immediately after policy reform when rent growth exceeds price growth by 3.6% or more, and rent control has benefitted tenants.     

THE EGYPTIAN STATE AND AGRICULTURAL LAND MARKET 1810–1986

The paper examines the economic effects of state policy on land transactions in Egyptian agriculture since 1810, with special reference to the post-1952 government intervention in the land market. Following a combination of historical and econometric approaches, the analysis shows that: (i) under conditions of market forces, factor prices responded to changes in land-labour ratio, cotton price and output value, and landlords' monopoly power was dominant; (ii) while the inequality was sharply reduced after equity-directed intervention, value productivity of the scarce factor, land, has lost its significance in determining rental values and the effective supply of land has, since 1970, declined together with agricultural growth rates; and (iii) there has been a trade-off between equity and agricultural growth during periods of non-intervention and relaxation of tight State control of the land market. Proposals for policy adjustment are presented.     

Smallholder participation in the land rental market in a mountainous region of Southern China: Impact of population aging,land tenure security and ethnicity

Rural land rental markets in China play an increasingly important role in the transformation of the agricultural sector. This study focuses on the rural land rental market in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Southern China, a mountainous region, where rapid changes in land use have taken place with the transition from traditional agriculture and a tropical rainforest to rubber monoculture. Notably, we assess the impacts of population aging, land tenure security, and ethnicity on the participation of smallholders in the land rental market. The analysis suggests that a higher proportion of older people in a household increases the likelihood of renting out land and reduces the probability of renting in land, implying that population aging fosters land rental market development by transferring land from older to younger farmers. We also confirm that the availability of a land tenure certificate has a significant and positive impact on the renting out of land. Furthermore, ethnic minority groups are less likely to rent out land, indicating that land rental markets are ethnic sensitive. Additionally, specialization in rubber farming, household wealth and the altitude of household location also influence participation in the land rental market.     

Determinants of agricultural land rental market transactions in Bangladesh

Land rental market transactions have been the norm in land scarce rural Bangladesh mainly due to the inadequacies of the governmental land distribution system to meet the growing demand for land and to correct imbalances in factor proportions at the farm-level. The present study jointly determines the socio-economic factors underlying decision to rent-in land and/or rent-out land by the Bangladeshi farmers in the land rental market using a bivariate Tobit model. The model diagnostic reveals that the decisions to rent-in and/or rent-out land is significantly correlated, implying that univariate analysis of such decisions are biased, thereby, justifying the use of a bivariate approach. Results reveal that a number of socio-economic factors affect farmers’ participation in the land rental market and work in opposite directions regarding the decision to rent-in or rent-out land. The likelihood of renting-in land is higher for farmers with inadequate cultivable land but with higher levels of livestock and other farm capital asset ownership, and also for those located in areas with developed infrastructure and fertile soils. On the other hand, the likelihood of renting-out land is higher among farmers with higher levels of cultivable land but inadequate farm capital and livestock resources, higher levels of education, less subsistence pressure, and poor extension contact. Geography does matter, as the likelihood of land transactions is higher in agriculturally intensive and/or developed regions. Government policy has an important role to play to improve the factor equalisation role of these land rental markets through, for example, investment in education, agricultural extension, rural infrastructure and the livestock sector.