Working Paper: NBER ID: w13572
Authors: Ruben N. Lubowski; Andrew J. Plantinga; Robert N. Stavins
Abstract: Land-use changes involve important economic and environmental effects with implications for international trade, global climate change, wildlife, and other policy issues. We use an econometric model to identify factors driving land-use change in the United States between 1982 and 1997. We quantify the effects of net returns to alternative land uses on private landowners' decisions to allocate land among six major uses, drawing on detailed micro-data on land use and land quality that are comprehensive of the contiguous U.S. This analysis provides the first evidence of the relative historical importance of markets and Federal farm policies affecting land-use changes nationally.
Keywords: land use change; landowner decisions; econometric model; federal farm policies; Conservation Reserve Program
JEL Codes: Q1; Q15; Q23; Q24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| net returns to alternative land uses (Q15) | land allocation decisions (Q15) |
| public policies (J18) | land use decisions (R14) |
| CRP (R50) | cropland area (Q15) |
| crop net returns (Q12) | cropland area (Q15) |
| timber net returns (Q23) | forest areas (Q23) |
| decline in crop net returns (Q12) | changes in forestland (Q23) |