IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/agreko/267313.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Efficiency Of Land Use

Author

Listed:
  • Nieuwoudt, W. L.

Abstract

In the communal agricultural sectors three reasons for market failure were advanced (a) free access to communal grazing which is a problem if the group is larger than the immediate family (b) lack of incentive to invest in improved pastures and fodder production due to the free rider situation and (c) opportunity cost of land differs from what market forces will determine. Commercial land expropriated should be resettled on a private individual tenure basis by small scale farmers and not on a communal basis. Under a communal system the return (rent) on grazing land is zero while the return on arable land is low due to lack in permanent tenure. This explains idle arable land in KwaZulu in spite of population pressure. The rental value is the cost to the farmer for non usage of land if it can make a positive contribution. The market mechanism penalizes the commercial farmer for the non usage of commercial land. A land tax does not increase this cost and will thus not bring unproductive land into production. (The supply of land is not perfectly inelastic due to improvements). Taxes on agricultural land have certain advantages such as (a) avoidance less possible than income taxes(b) a wealth tax and (c) may better target to wealthy landowners who with the assistance of tax experts arc better able to avoid taxes. Disadvantages of land taxes are that administration cost may be high and the tax is the same in good and bad years.

Suggested Citation

  • Nieuwoudt, W. L., 1990. "Efficiency Of Land Use," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 29(4), December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:agreko:267313
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.267313
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/267313/files/03-Nieuwoudt.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/267313/files/03-Nieuwoudt.pdf?subformat=pdfa
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.267313?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David E. Mills, 1989. "Is Zoning a Negative-Sum Game?," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 65(1), pages 1-12.
    2. Michael T. Weber & John M. Staatz & Eric W. Crawford & Richard H. Bernsten & John S. Holtzman, 1988. "Informing Food Security Decisions in Africa: Empirical Analysis and Policy Dialogue," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(5), pages 1044-1052.
    3. M.C. Lyne & W.L. Nieuwoudt, 1990. "The Real Tragedy of the Commons: Livestock Production in Kwazulu," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 58(1), pages 51-56, March.
    4. W. L. Nieuwoudt & N. Vink, 1989. "The Effects of Increased Earnings from Traditional Agriculture in Southern Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 57(3), pages 168-177, September.
    5. John E. Anderson & Howard C. Bunch, 1989. "Agricultural Property Tax Relief: Tax Credits, Tax Rates, and Land Values," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 65(1), pages 13-22.
    6. T. I. Fenyes & J. Vanzyl & N. Vink, 1988. "Structural Imbalances in South African Agriculture1," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 56(2‐3), pages 112-122, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mahabile, M. & Lyne, Michael C. & Panin, A., 2005. "An empirical analysis of factors affecting the productivity of livestock in southern Botswana," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 44(1), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Wynne, Adrian T. & Lyne, Michael C., 2003. "Rural Economic Growth Linkages and Small Scale Poultry Production: A Survey of Poultry Producers in KwaZulu-Natal," 2003 Annual Conference, October 2-3, 2003, Pretoria, South Africa 19095, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA).
    3. Lyne, M. C. & Thomson, D. N. & Ortmann, G. F., 1996. "Institutional Change To Promote Land Rental Markets I In The Developing Regions Of Southern Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 35(1), March.
    4. Mahabile, M & Lyne, M & Panin, A, 2002. "Factors Affecting The Productivity Of Communal And Private Livestock Farmers In Southern Botswana: A Descriptive Analysis Of Sample Survey Results," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 41(4).
    5. Moor, G. M. & Nieuwoudt, W. L., 1995. "The Interaction Between Land Tenure Security And Agricultural Productivity In Zimbabwe," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 34(4), December.
    6. Oosthuizen, L.K., 1998. "Agriculture As A Driving Force Of Economic Development: Suggestions For Agricultural Development Policy In Southern Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 37(4), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Kille, G. S. & Lyne, M. C., 1993. "Investment On Freehold And Trust Farms: Theory With Some Evidence From Kwazulu," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 32(3), September.
    8. Ortmann, Gerald F., 2005. "Promoting the competitiveness of South African agriculture in a dynamic economic and political environment," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 44(3), pages 1-35, September.
    9. Wynne, Adrian T. & Lyne, Michael C., 2004. "Rural economic growth linkages and small scale poultry production: A survey of producers in KwaZulu-Natal," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 43(1), pages 1-21, March.
    10. Knight, S & Lyne, M & Roth, M, 2003. "Best Institutional Arrangements For Farm-Worker Equity-Share Schemes In South Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 42(3).
    11. Ortmann, Gerald F., 2000. "Promoting competitiveness in South African agriculture and agribusiness: The role of institutions," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 39(4), pages 1-33, March.
    12. Dengu, T. & Lyne, Michael C., 2007. "Secure land rental contracts and agricultural investment in two communal areas of KwaZulu-Natal," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 46(3), pages 1-12, September.
    13. Lyne, M. C. & Ortmann, G. F., 1992. "Suggestions For Agricultural Economics Research In South Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 31(4), December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. van Zyl, Johan & Binswanger, Hans & Thirtle, Colin, 1995. "The relationship between farm size and efficiency in South African agriculture," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1548, The World Bank.
    2. Ortmann, Gerald F., 2000. "Promoting competitiveness in South African agriculture and agribusiness: The role of institutions," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 39(4), pages 1-33, March.
    3. Coetzee, G K & Zyl, J van, 1990. "An Assessment of Food Security in South Africa," 1990 Symposium, Agricultural Restructuring in Southern Africa, July 24-27, 1990, Swakopmund, Namibia 183578, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Thomson, D. N. & Lyne, M. C., 1991. "A Land Rental Market In Kwazulu: Implications For Farming Efficiency," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 30(4), December.
    5. Lyne, M. C., 1991. "Land Reform In The Tribal Areas Of South Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 30(4), December.
    6. van Zyl, Johan & Kirsten, Johann, 1992. "Food Security In South Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 31(4), December.
    7. Barrett, Christopher B., 1998. "Immiserized growth in liberalized agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 743-753, May.
    8. Afari-Sefa, Victor, 2008. "The Distributional Effects of Horticultural Export Value Chains among Smallholders In Southern Ghana," 2007 Second International Conference, August 20-22, 2007, Accra, Ghana 52124, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    9. Jayne, Thomas S. & Yamano, Takashi & Nyoro, James K. & Awuor, Tom, 2000. "Do Farmers Really Benefit from High Food Prices? Balancing Rural Interests in Kenya's Maize Pricing and Marketing Policy," Food Security Collaborative Policy Briefs 54641, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    10. Nicole M. Mason & Robert J. Myers, 2013. "The effects of the Food Reserve Agency on maize market prices in Zambia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(2), pages 203-216, March.
    11. Barrett, Christopher B., 1996. "On price risk and the inverse farm size-productivity relationship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 193-215, December.
    12. Akinboade, O.A., 1998. "The Implementation Of The Gambian Rangeland And Water Development Project: Lessons For Southern Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 37(1), pages 1-22, March.
    13. De Maio, Lorenzo & Stewart, Frances & van der Hoeven, Rolph, 1999. "Computable General Equilibrium Models, Adjustment and the Poor in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 453-470, March.
    14. Minot, Nicholas & Dewina, Reno, 2013. "Impact of food price changes on household welfare in Ghana:," IFPRI discussion papers 1245, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Binswanger, Hans P. & Deininger, Klaus & Feder, Gershon, 1995. "Power, distortions, revolt and reform in agricultural land relations," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 42, pages 2659-2772, Elsevier.
    16. Jayne, Thomas S. & Jones, Stephen P., 1996. "Food Marketing and Pricing Policy in Eastern and Southern Africa: Lessons for Increasing Agricultural Productivity and Access to Food," Food Security International Development Policy Syntheses 11337, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    17. Syed Shurid Khan & Shawn Arita & Richard Howitt & PingSun Leung, 2022. "Evaluating change in property tax regime on noncommercial food production using a modified positive mathematical programming model," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(9), pages 1-20, September.
    18. Argwings-Kodhek, Gem & Jayne, Thomas S. & Nyambane, Gerald G. & Awuor, Tom & Yamano, Takashi, 1998. "How Can Micro-Level Household Information Make a Difference for Agricultural Policy Making: Selected Examples from the KAMPAP Survey of Smallholder Agriculture and Non Farm Activities for Selected Dis," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 57056, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    19. Sahn, David E. & Dorosh, Paul & Younger, Stephen, 1996. "Exchange rate, fiscal and agricultural policies in Africa: Does adjustment hurt the poor?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 719-747, April.
    20. Barrett, Christopher B., 1999. "The microeconomics of the developmental paradox: on the political economy of food price policy," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 159-172, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Land Economics/Use; Productivity Analysis;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:agreko:267313. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeasaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.