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It’s not just where you farm; it’s whether your neighbor does too. How agglomeration economies are shaping new agricultural landscapes

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  • Peter Richards

Abstract

This article explores the effect of neighborhood land use on land use change in Mato Grosso, Brazil, one of the world’s most dynamic agricultural frontiers. Using an innovative combination of spatial statistics and remotely sensed data, this research shows that the likelihood of an area being converted to agriculture is closely tied to how land is used in a location’s surroundings. The results also suggest that this spatial spillover effect cannot be tied exclusively to the distribution of natural suitability characteristics. Rather, the likelihood of an area being converted to agriculture appears to reflect the dynamic socio-economic conditions of a location’s surroundings. The findings imply that (i) agricultural agencies or experts seeking to support developing agricultural regions should recognize the importance of returns to scale and local clustering and that (ii) land use modeling can be improved by accounting for suitability and land uses in nearby locations.

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  • Peter Richards, 2018. "It’s not just where you farm; it’s whether your neighbor does too. How agglomeration economies are shaping new agricultural landscapes," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 87-110.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:18:y:2018:i:1:p:87-110.
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    2. Pei Xu & Zehu Jin & Huan Tang, 2022. "Influence Paths and Spillover Effects of Agricultural Agglomeration on Agricultural Green Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Li, Xianmei & Yu, Guoxin & Wen, Liping & Liu, Guoyong, 2023. "Research on the effect of agricultural science and technology service supply from the perspective of farmers' differentiation," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 2(3).
    4. Gianluca Iannucci & Federico Martellozzo & Filippo Randelli, 2022. "Sustainable development of rural areas: a dynamic model in between tourism exploitation and landscape decline," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 991-1016, July.
    5. Shimada, Hideki, 2020. "Do monetary rewards for spatial coordination enhance participation in a forest incentive program?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    6. Varun Kumar Das, 2018. "Looking Beyond the Farm and Household: Determinants of On-farm Diversification in India," Working Papers id:12945, eSocialSciences.
    7. Aguiar, Sebastián & Mastrángelo, Matías E. & Texeira, Marcos & Meyfroidt, Patrick & Volante, José N. & Paruelo, José M., 2022. "Roads and land tenure mediate the effects of precipitation on forest cover change in the Argentine Dry Chaco," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    8. Varun Kumar Das, 2018. "Looking beyond the farm and household: Determinants of on-farm diversification in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2018-023, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    9. Abeygunawardane, Dilini & Kronenburg García, Angela & Sun, Zhanli & Müller, Daniel & Sitoe, Almeida & Meyfroidt, Patrick, 2022. "Resource frontiers and agglomeration economies: The varied logics of transnational land-based investing in Southern and Eastern Africa," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 51(6), pages 1535-1551.
    10. Daniel Morales Martínez & Alexandre Gori Maia & Junior Ruiz Garcia, 2022. "Spatial diffusion of efficient irrigation systems: a study of São Paulo, Brazil," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(3), pages 690-712, July.
    11. Piquer-Rodríguez, M. & Baumann, M. & Butsic, V. & Gasparri, H.I. & Gavier-Pizarro, G. & Volante, J.N. & Müller, D. & Kuemmerle, T., 2018. "The potential impact of economic policies on future land-use conversions in Argentina," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 57-67.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agriculture; Brazil; agglomeration economies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q10 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - General

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