Agricultural land values and the value of rights to future land development.

摘要

The central purpose of the article is to quantify the effect of future development on the current value of agricultural land. An econometric model is used based on land price and urban growth theory developed in the urban economics field. The modelis estimated with cross-sectional and time-series data on 54 New York counties for 3 time periods (1982, 1987, 1992). Results show that counties with higher agricultural rents have higher land values, and that land values are related to the travel time to the closest metropolitan area. Higher rates of population change raise land values by increasing development rates. It is indicated that this approach overcomes several problems that arise with the use of standard appraisal methods to value conservation easements. Previous studies of agricultural land values are also discussed.