TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lubowski,Ruben N.
AU  - Plantinga,Andrew J.
AU  - Stavins,Robert N.
TI  - What Drives Land-Use Change in the United States?  A National Analysis of Landowner Decisions
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13572
PY  - 2007
Y2  - November 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13572
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13572.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Ruben N.. Lubowski
USDA Economic Research Service
1800 M Street, N.W., Room S4177
Washington, D.C. 20036
E-Mail: RLUBOWSKI@ers.usda.gov

Andrew Plantinga
Department of Agricultural
& Resource Economics
Oregon State University
Rm #212B Ballard Extension Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331-4501
E-Mail: Plantinga@oregonstate.edu

Robert Stavins
JFK School of Government
Harvard University
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-1820
Fax: 617/496-3783
E-Mail: robert_stavins@harvard.edu
AB  - 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.
ER  -