Recent spikes in food prices and the high liquidity on international financial markets have boosted the demand for land. As a result, agricultural land prices have steadily increased over the past decade in many parts of the world. This development has fueled the discussion on whether land markets as an allocation device work efficiently and whether current legislation is in line with political and social objectives. Despite existing research on land-related topics, the current state of knowledge does not provide comprehensive answers to these questions. The overall objective of the proposed research unit is thus to improve the understanding of agricultural land markets in developed economies. This is a precondition for evaluating existing and proposed policy instruments, and for the design of optimal regulation of agricultural land markets...
- Course owner: Martin Odening
- Course owner: Gabriele Würth