What Drives Land-Use Change in the United States? a National Analysis of Landowner Decisions

43 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2007 Last revised: 3 Aug 2022

See all articles by Ruben N. Lubowski

Ruben N. Lubowski

Environmental Defense Fund

Andrew Plantinga

Oregon State University

Robert N. Stavins

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS); Resources for the Future; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: November 2007

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.

Suggested Citation

Lubowski, Ruben N. and Plantinga, Andrew J. and Stavins, Robert N., What Drives Land-Use Change in the United States? a National Analysis of Landowner Decisions (November 2007). NBER Working Paper No. w13572, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1027191

Ruben N. Lubowski

Environmental Defense Fund ( email )

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Andrew J. Plantinga

Oregon State University ( email )

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Robert N. Stavins (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

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Resources for the Future

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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