Owned or rented—does it matter? Agricultural land use change within farm properties,case studies from Norway

In Norway and many other countries agriculture has moved toward less, but bigger farms. Total agricultural area has not been much affected mainly due to land tenancy. In this study we used aerial photographs to map land use and land cover in agricultural areas at present and in the mid-sixties. Three study sites were chosen, representing areas of differences with respect to drivers of change and possible differences in their landscape outcome. Maps from the two periods were used to produce transition matrices for the three areas as well as within each farm property. Our main finding on acreage change is that fully cultivated land increases and pastures decreases. A novel feature in our study is that we also include land use changes within single properties. In all three places a large share of the fully cultivated land in the sixties remains fully cultivated land irrespectively of whether the land is in use by its owner or is rented. When we looked at increases of fully cultivated land, the results are mixed. In the less favorable region, ownership to land versus rented land helps explain the variation in gain of fully cultivated land as well as maintained total agricultural area. However, in the case study from the grain region, whether a farm property today is in use as own land or rented, do not help explain the variation in changes within the data sample of farm properties larger than one hectare.     

Application of spatial resource data to assist in farmland valuation

A land transaction is generally not a recurring action for most buyers and sellers, their experience and knowledge are limited, for this reason the services of property agents and valuers are sometimes used, just to get more information available. The condition of insufficient information and the inability to observe differences in land productivity gives rise to the undervaluation of good land and overvaluation of poor land. The advent of the Internet made access to comprehensive information sources easier for property agents and valuers whose critical time and resources can now be effectively managed through Geographic Information System (GIS) integrated workflow processes. This study aims to develop the blueprint for a farm valuation support system (FVSS) that assists valuers in their application of the comparable sales method by enabling them to do the following: (1) Rapid identification of the location of the subject property and transaction properties on an electronic map. (2) Comparison of the subject property with the transaction properties in terms of value contributing attributes that can be expressed in a spatial format, mainly (a) location and (b) land resource quality factors not considered in existing valuation systems that primarily focus on residential property. An algorithm, that generates an index value, was developed to allow easy comparison of the land of a subject property and that of transaction properties. This index value distinguishes the proposed FVSS from other existing property valuation systems and can therefore be used by valuers as a first approximation of a property's soil suitability, before doing further field work. The FVSS was successfully developed and tested, primarily using data obtained in the Western Cape, South Africa.     

Who trades water allocations? Evidence of the characteristics of early adopters in the Goulburn–Murray Irrigation District,Australia 1998–1999**

This article applies a model of innovation to analyze the characteristics of irrigators within the Goulburn–Murray Irrigation District in Australia and examines the efficiency of the early water market in the late 1990s. Using multinominal and binary logit analyses we identify the factors associated with irrigators who sold or bought water allocations during 1998–1999 and irrigators who at that time had never participated in any kind of water trading. Contrary to expectations we find that early adopters of water trading were older farmers with low farm productivity, but that in line with theory they had higher levels of education, had spent less time farming, had larger irrigated area, farm operating surplus and farm assets, owned farms that were more intensively farmed, and were more progressive in their planning. There was only weak evidence to suggest that water moved from lower value uses to higher value uses, suggesting the water allocation market had limited efficiency in its’ initial years.     

Land Tenure,Tenure Security and Farm Efficiency: Panel Evidence from the Philippines

This article tests the relationships among formalised property rights, land tenure contracts and productive efficiency in farming. Using four rounds of panel data from 230 rice farms in the Philippines, we measure the effects of land tenure arrangements on farm efficiency using a stochastic production frontier model. We test for the allocative efficiency of observed land rental markets. We also test how land tenure security affects farmers' investment decisions. Results suggest that, despite the presence of formalised titles, the rental market remains inefficient at allocating land. In contrast, the unformalised tenure contracts used by farmers appear to provide tenure security.     

Extra-legal land market dynamics on a Guatemalan agricultural frontier: Implications for neoliberal land policies

Neoliberal land policies such as land administration seek to improve property rights and the efficiency of land markets to boost rural economic production. Quantitative studies of pre-existing land markets can help planners to tailor these policies to local conditions. In this article we examine an extra-legal land market currently being modernized by a World Bank-sponsored land administration effort. Specifically, we use a hedonic-type revealed preference model and household survey data to estimate the factors affecting extra-legal land prices along an agricultural frontier in Petén, Guatemala. Our model indicates that land value is significantly affected by land attributes including location, tenure status, presence of water, distance to roads, and distance to landowners’ homes, and that land prices in the northwestern Petén are estimated to have risen on average 26.5% per year between 1977 and 2000. We contend that this rate of increase provides a strong incentive for colonists to speculate in land rather than invest in state sanctioned property rights. We conclude that if frontier development programs, such as land administration, are to become attractive to settlers in Petén and elsewhere, they must compete favorably with economic incentives associated with land speculation, or alternatively, target landowners who are not interested in playing the land market.     

How to assess the impact of hope on a change in the use of land on market value?

This article is devoted to common yet quite specific approaches to valuation practice tasks that are involved in determining the market value of real properties in areas of possible land use changes. An intrinsic element of market value in such areas is the hope value, for which an option pricing model is used quite frequently.The authors propose a specially adapted Samuelson-McKean model for this task, which allows market value indication to be determined not only with the built-in development option, but also the dynamics of its components value in the current highest and best use and hope value – depending on the location of the given property. The greatest advantage of the Samuelson-McKean model is that it can be treated as universal for analyzing the range of possible indications of market value seeing as how its main task is to find a compromise between the interests of the buyer and the seller, which is the goal of any fair transactions and decisions.     

Production efficiency of Chinese agriculture: evidence from rural household survey data

A shadow-price profit frontier model is developed to examine production efficiency of Chinese rural households in farming operations. The model incorporates price distortions resulting from imperfect market conditions and socioeconomic and institutional constraints, but retains the advantages of stochastic frontier properties. The shadow prices are derived through a generalized profit function estimation. The shadow-price profit frontier is then estimated and an efficiency index based on the estimated profit frontier is computed and decomposed to household characteristics. Empirical results using data from China's Rural Household Survey for 1991 reject the neoclassical profit maximization hypothesis based on market prices in favor of the general model with price distortions. Farmers' resource endowment and education influence their response to the market restrictions, thus alter their performance in terms of efficiency. The estimated efficiency index ranges from 6% to 93% with a sample average of 62%. Households' educational level, family size and per capita net income are positively related to production efficiency. Households living in mountain areas or with family members employed by the government or state industries are relatively inefficient. Reducing market intervention, allowing right of use of farm land to be transferred among households, encouraging migration of excess farm labor, and promoting farmers' education will improve rural households' efficiency in agricultural production.     

The International Competitiveness of the Palestinian Agriculture

The purpose of this study is to identify and measure the impacts of factors which are expected to influence the competitiveness of the Palestinian agriculture by using the market share approach with an econometric model. Over the past three decades, Palestinian agriculture has been subjected to increased international and regional competition. The impact of this competition is in part evidenced by trend decline in the West Bank and Gaza Strip agricultural exports in one hand, and the increases in agricultural imports on the other. The empirical results indicate that the performances of domestic and import market shares could be increased through improving the productivities of the major production factors such as land, labor and capital. Applying this policy would enhance the competitiveness of Palestinian agriculture by increasing local production to replace farm imports from Israel. On the other land, future farm export competitiveness will be closely linked to improvements in production, marketing efficiency and removing non-tarrif trade barriers (NTBs) imposed by Jordan and Israel.     

The impact of decoupled payments on U.S. cropland values

An extensive literature has shown that various farm programs may influence the value of farmland, but other studies have not examined the cropland price effects of direct, or decoupled, payments separate from countercyclical payments. This study uses nationally representative confidential field‐level panel data with farmer‐reported per‐acre land values. We analyze the impact of decoupled and other farm program payments on farmland values. Using a fixed effects model and controlling for various factors that influence farmland values, we find that an additional dollar of decoupled payments has a large and statistically significant impact on farmland values of about $18 per acre. These results are comparable with similar studies undertaken in Europe.     

基于统一年产值标准的征地补偿测算方法研究——以广西壮族自治区都安县为例

研究目的:解决当前征地工作中存在的补偿标准偏低、随意性较大、同地不同价问题。研究方法:以广西都安县为例,对基于统一年产值标准的征地补偿测算方法进行了研究。研究结果:新的征地补偿方法提高了都安县的征地补偿标准,解决了都安县以前征地补偿过程中存在的随意性较大和同地不同价问题,在一定程度上保证了都安县失地农民生活水平不因征地而降低,长远生活有保障。研究结论:新的征地补偿测算方法,加强和完善了征地制度和管理,在一定程度上保护了失地农民合法土地财产权益;但由于没有充分考虑到土地的特性、潜在利用价值和市场价值,没有充分涉及到农地发展权问题,导致新的补偿方法存在较多缺陷,有待于进一步研究和完善。     

Modelling and Mapping Agricultural Output Values Using Farm Specific Details and Environmental Databases

Ongoing concerns regarding the economic losses associated with the CAP and the negative environmental impacts of present land use have led to calls for land use change and consequent efforts to identify areas which are, from both a financial and social perspective, most appropriate for such conversion. This paper develops and applies an output value modelling methodology in which site-specific biophysical factors are combined with farm level data in order to predict input usage and, subsequently, farm profit. The spatial analytic capabilities of a geographical information system (GIS) are used to combine the variety of data employed to permit analysis of a large study area (the entirety of Wales) and yield models of both the market and shadow value of output from the two principal agricultural sectors of the area: dairying and sheep farming. The GIS is then used to produce readily interpretable maps of these values across the study area. The resulting maps are highly compatible both with value maps of alternative land uses given in the recent literature and with approaches to policy formulation currently under development by a range of UK agencies. Such maps may be used to assist estimation of the extent and location of farming response to land use policy change.     

The forest transition: Towards a more comprehensive theoretical framework

Building on the contributions of Mather and others, this paper offers an approach for developing a more comprehensive theory of the forest transition. We argue that long-run changes in forest cover in a country or region cannot be separated from the overall pattern of land use changes. Moreover, this pattern is determined by relative land values; forest cover changes over time as the value of one land use relative to the value of its competing use changes over time. However, the actual values that are used to allocate land may be far from optimal; that is, the presence of market, policy and institutional failures can distort economic and political incentives that can lead to bias in favour of one type of land use over the other, and may ultimately explain why a forest transition may be delayed unnecessarily in some countries and regions.     

Land-property markets and planning: A special case

Land use policy often intervenes in land-property markets. This raises a question that may have critical implications for land use policy: are these normal markets? This paper addresses that question: are land and property ordinary market goods, or do they lack some of the preconditions necessary for markets to work properly? We find that land-property has limited substitutability, due to the critical factor of location; qualified by location, land is limited and sometimes unique. These attributes make land and property investment assets risking speculation, warranting public intervention to mitigate negative social consequences. Land-property markets need market or administrative support to work, which planning provides through public and private agents. The paper reviews the different forms of planning and development control in land-property markets.     

Industrialisation-led displacement and long-term welfare: evidence from West Bengal

This study identifies whether people evicted for industrialisation purposes are worse-off in the long-run. The study focuses on the establishment of the Falta special economic zone in 1984 in West Bengal, India. Using household survey data, the results indicate that the displaced are not worse-off three decades after their displacement and resettlement. There is, however, some evidence that the displaced did not receive adequate land compensation or property rights on their new land and dwellings. There is also evidence that cash compensation policies were skewed, to the disadvantage of large landowners. We also identify three factors which possibly led to resilience among the displaced households: the creation of employment opportunities at the industrial park, gradual erosion of the gender gap in education and labour market participation, and large(r) household size. Overall, we do not find that the adverse effects of displacement and inadequate compensation persist in the long run.     

Passive farming and land development: A real options approach

The EU's farmers are no longer required to produce commodities to receive direct payments as long as they keep their land in good condition. Some believe this is bad for development because it encourages passive farming. We evaluate, using a real options approach, the implications of decoupled payments for the desirability and optimal timing of agricultural land development when considering sunk investment costs and uncertain future returns. We find that decoupled payments accelerate development while passive farming increases, by adding managerial flexibility, the value associated with land. We then use the Nash bargaining solution to identify the rental share to be paid for leasing land. We show that a deal for the lease of land can always be reached, but that the facility to use passive farming as an outside option allows landowners to extract policy rents, thereby undermining the potential for the Basic Payment Scheme to support tenant farmers’ incomes.     

The impact of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on land and property values: A meta-analysis

Throughout the world, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has become a popular transit solution for cities wanting to improve urban mobility and economic opportunities through land and property value uplift (LVU). However, the relevant literature reports a mixed impact of BRT on land and property values. This research aims to explain the variation in impacts by conducting a meta-analysis of 23 empirical studies which have estimated the amount of LVU that is attributable to BRT. Using a random-effects model, four categories of factors that may influence estimates of BRT impacts are analysed: BRT system characteristics; land type and accessibility; research methods; and the spatial and temporal characteristics of the case study. Several factors were found to have a statistically significant impact on estimated LVU impacts from BRT systems including maturity of the BRT system; property or land; type of value (asking price, assessed price or sales price); the distance to BRT stations; the research method; and the geographical location of the BRT system. Using the quantifiability advantages of meta-analysis techniques, we further conducted a broad comparison between our results and the findings from one previous meta-analysis study on Rail-Based Transit (RBT), and discussed how the LVU impact differs between BRT and RBT. The findings from this research suggest several key recommendations for future studies into the impact of BRT on land and property values. They also inform policy analyses on transit funding through land and property value gains.     

HEDONIC PRICING FOR A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF A PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY SCHEME*

During the 1950s and 1960s pipelines were built to provide water to many farms in the central wheatbelt of Western Australia using public funds. The resulting network has become known as the Comprehensive Water Supply Scheme. The expansion of the Scheme is currently under consideration. An ex ante cost benefit analysis of the proposed expansion is undertaken. An earlier analysis which focused on the benefits of the reduced necessity to cart water was rejected by farmer groups because of the inability of the analysis to properly account for domestic benefits and risk reduction. To overcome these criticisms a hedonic model of farm land values is formulated in which the independent variables are the characteristics of a property, including whether or not the property is connected to the Scheme. The implicit marginal price (or value) of Scheme connection is then derived. An advantage of this technique is that it estimates the value that the farmers allocate to Scheme water in the market place. The conclusion is that the benefits of Scheme water are considerably less than the costs.     

Smallholder land ownership in Kenya: distribution between households and through time

This study uses panel data to demonstrate two dimensions of land ownership: the distribution between households at a given time and changes within a household over time. We note that recognizing the latter dimension is only possible when analyzing rare long‐term panel data. We estimate a model for land ownership using a version of the correlated random effects estimator to uniquely identify the determinants of both dimensions amongst Kenyan smallholders. We find life cycle effects are a key determinant of both distributions, and identify important ways in which initial conditions such as inheritance and off‐farm income relate to the dynamics of ownership. We find that population density is a key determinant of differences between households, but also that a given household's land ownership is not affected in the short term as population density increases around them. Controlling for population density, households own more land when they are closer to road networks where the economic value of land is higher. We find important vulnerabilities for the land security of widows, but this vulnerability is geographically heterogeneous.     

Land economic rent computation for urban planning and fiscal purposes

This article proposes an innovative methodology to compute economic rents of land designed to current or potential offices uses. It consists in the establishment of a cause-and-effect relation between offices’ price levels and correspondent levels of land rent, considering the main factors that influence property prices, the ones that guide public and private activities’ location decisions and the inter-dependencies between land and real estate property markets. The rationale subjacent to this research is that land economic rent is determined by the difference between offices market price and a set of costs correspondent to land acquisition, planning and building processes, and a profit margin. An assessment of surplus values is provided in order to compute it as the difference between total land market value (land economic rent plus economic return on land use) and correspondent tributary patrimonial-value according to legal valuation proceedings (settled on property law). In order to reach these goals, variables that exert influence on urban planning and municipal management were identified, an urban management information system was designed and implemented, and an integrated and interactive model to support decisions in urban planning – concerning real estate offices and land prices and characteristics – was developed. These tools were applied as a case study to Oporto city (Portugal). They embody updating functionalities, setting up as an on-going support to policies of municipal land use management (particularly applied to offices uses). A proposal is made to integrate similar models in territorial plans as valuation tools to support better approaches to assess the impact of planning decisions on real estate and land values, thus informing a more equitable, efficient and local-based tax basis. Implications of this analysis for urban planning and fiscal settings are proposed.