Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - 165th EAAE Seminar 2019 Agricultural Land Markets

Background and Objectives

Background and Objectives of the 165. EAAE seminar Agricultural Land Markets – Recent Developments, Efficiency and Regulation

Recent surges in agricultural land prices as well as ongoing changes in land use due to urban sprawl, expansion of renewable energy production, and growing demands on the part of non-agricultural investors have triggered debates on the effectiveness and appropriateness of existing land market regulations.

Although boom and bust cycles are not new to land markets, current developments are considered to result from a new constellation of driving forces. For instance, it is conjectured that the increased demand for land by financial investors has pushed land rental and sales prices up. Another cause for concern by policy makers and other stakeholders is an “unsound” or “unfair” concentration of land property rights. Moreover, the share of farmed land owned by farmers is constantly decreasing in most developed economies. The controversy on land ownership is a major theme in the land-grabbing literature. Usually associated with developing countries, land-grabbing has been shown to occur also in the global north and the EU. These findings challenge conventional wisdom and are particularly disconcerting since an unequal distribution of land is likely fueling social unrest and political conflicts in rural areas. The regional focus of the seminar is on developed economies and transition countries, particularly in the EU.

Given the current discussion on land market regulations, the 165. EAAE seminar Agricultural Land Markets – Recent Developments, Efficiency and Regulation pursues two overall objectives:

  • First, to evaluate the outcome of land markets and to verify whether they fulfil their societal functions or there is a need for further policy intervention. To this end the seminar intends to take an overarching view of the recent developments in agricultural land markets and their drivers.
  • The second objective is to evaluate existing and proposed policy instruments and the design of regulation.
  • Moreover, the seminar aims at discussing and analyzing the state-of-the art in research methods for economic analysis of agricultural land markets.

The seminar offers a platform to exchange ideas and to generate an integrated view of evaluating and regulating the outcomes of agricultural land markets. Due to its political topicality, the seminar is not only relevant for a scientific community, but also for decision makers in politics and administration.