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Long run agricultural land expansion, booms and busts

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  • Barbier, Edward B.

Abstract

Agricultural land expansion is a prominent feature in today’s developing countries. It is associated with a structural pattern of land use in many remote land-abundant regions where large-scale commercial primary product activities coexist with increased concentration of smallholders in more marginal areas. The result may be boom-bust cycles of development. If these phenomena are widespread across developing countries, then long-run expansion of agricultural land could be associated with lower levels of real income per capita, which may also fluctuate with prolonged expansion. A panel analysis conducted over 1961–2015 for 98 developing economies fails to reject this hypothesis. Policies should aim to decouple socio-economic gains through agricultural development from continued land expansion, and greater investments are needed to support smallholder agriculture, land distribution and livelihoods in these areas.

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  • Barbier, Edward B., 2020. "Long run agricultural land expansion, booms and busts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:93:y:2020:i:c:s0264837718315229
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.01.011
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