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Measuring the effect of farmland preservation on farm profitability

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  • Schilling, Brian J.
  • Attavanich, Witsanu
  • Sullivan, Kevin P.
  • Marxen, Lucas J.

Abstract

Purchase of development rights (PDR) programs have been created in 27 states to preserve farmland resources. These programs seek to advance several societal objectives, including the protection of farmland from development, retention of rural amenities, and promotion of the economic viability of farming. Using New Jersey farm-level data, this study evaluates whether participation in a state PDR program improves farm profitability. The propensity score matching method is used to correct for selection bias arising from the voluntary nature of these programs. No statistically significant profit differential is found between preserved and observationally equivalent unpreserved farms in our full sample of 4029 farms. When the analysis is replicated across different farm types, we find weak evidence that the profitability of preserved residential lifestyle/retirement farms is lower than that observed for their unpreserved equivalents. In contrast, we find that small farms (

Suggested Citation

  • Schilling, Brian J. & Attavanich, Witsanu & Sullivan, Kevin P. & Marxen, Lucas J., 2014. "Measuring the effect of farmland preservation on farm profitability," MPRA Paper 100122, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jun 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:100122
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    Cited by:

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    2. Balaine, Lorraine & Dillon, Emma J. & Läpple, Doris & Lynch, John, 2020. "Can technology help achieve sustainable intensification? Evidence from milk recording on Irish dairy farms," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Christine Léger Léger-Bosch, 2019. "Farmland tenure and transaction costs: Public and collectively owned land vs conventional coordination mechanisms in France [Régime de tenure foncière et coûts de transaction: terres publiques et c," Post-Print hal-02573765, HAL.
    4. Lu, Chen-Fu & Cheng, Chia-Yi, 2023. "Does the change of agricultural zoning policy achieve farmland protection in Taiwan?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    5. Meiyuan Wang & Bin He & Jinsong Zhang & Yanan Jin, 2021. "Analysis of the Effect of Cooperatives on Increasing Farmers’ Income from the Perspective of Industry Prosperity Based on the PSM Empirical Study in Shennongjia Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-18, November.
    6. W. Attavanich, 2016. "Did the Thai rice-pledging programme improve the economic performance and viability of rice farming?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(24), pages 2253-2265, May.
    7. Riccardo D’Alberto & Matteo Zavalloni & Meri Raggi & Davide Viaggi, 2018. "AES Impact Evaluation With Integrated Farm Data: Combining Statistical Matching and Propensity Score Matching," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    8. Xuewen Li & Weiwen Zhang & Yi Peng, 2016. "Grain Output and Cultivated Land Preservation: Assessment of the Rewarded Land Conversion Quotas Trading Policy in China’s Zhejiang Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Nguyen Khanh Doanh & Nguyen Thi Thu Thuong & Yoon Heo, 2018. "Impact of Conversion to Organic Tea Cultivation on Household Income in the Mountainous Areas of Northern Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, November.
    10. Amorn Pochanasomboon & Witsanu Attavanich & Akaranant Kidsom, 2020. "Impacts of Land Ownership on the Economic Performance and Viability of Rice Farming in Thailand," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, March.
    11. Duke, Joshua M. & Bernard, John C. & Vitz, Gregory, 2021. "A new food label to aid farmland preservation programs: Evidence from a field experiment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Farmland preservation; Purchase of development rights; Agricultural land use policy; Program evaluation; Farm profitability; Propensity score matching;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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