Do Agricultural Land Preservation Programs Reduce Farmland Loss? Evidence from a Propensity Score Matching Estimator

More than 80 governmental entities concerned about sprawl, open space, and farmland have implemented purchase of development rights (PDR) programs preserving 2.23 million acres at a cost of $5.47 billion. Are PDR programs effective in slowing the rate and acres of farmland loss? Employing propensity score matching methods and a 50-year, 269-county data set for six Mid-Atlantic states, we find empirical evidence that PDR programs have had a statistically significant effect on farmland loss. Having a PDR program decreases a county’s rate of farmland loss by 40% to 55% and decreases farmland acres lost by 375 to 550 acres per year. (JEL Q24, Q28)

[1]  Xiangping Liu,et al.  Do Zoning Regulations Rob Rural Landowners' Equity? , 2011 .

[2]  S. Goetz,et al.  New perspectives on agri-environmental policies: A multidisciplinary and transatlantic approach , 2009 .

[3]  Charles Towe,et al.  An Empirical Examination of the Timing of Land Conversions in the Presence of Farmland Preservation Programs , 2008 .

[4]  Lori Lynch,et al.  Impact of Designated Preservation Areas on Rate of Preservation and Rate of Conversion: Preliminary Evidence , 2007 .

[5]  J. Geoghegan,et al.  Are Farmland Preservation Program Easement Restrictions Capitalized into Farmland Prices? What Can a Propensity Score Matching Analysis Tell Us? * , 2007 .

[6]  L. Brooks.  Volunteering to Be Taxed: Business Improvement Districts and the Extra-Governmental Provision of Public Safety , 2007 .

[7]  Yohannes G. Hailu,et al.  Regional Growth Impacts on Agricultural Land Development: A Spatial Model for Three States , 2007, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.

[8]  Lori Ly,et al.  An Evaluation of Working Land and Open Space Preservation Programs in Maryland , 2007 .

[9]  R. Nehring,et al.  Urban Sprawl and Farmland Prices , 2006 .

[10]  T. DiPrete,et al.  7. Assessing Bias in the Estimation of Causal Effects: Rosenbaum Bounds on Matching Estimators and Instrumental Variables Estimation with Imperfect Instruments , 2004 .

[11]  Joshua M. Duke,et al.  A Conjoint Analysis of Public Preferences for Agricultural Land Preservation , 2004, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.

[12]  S. Goetz,et al.  Protecting farmland - why do we do it? How do we do it? Can we do it better? , 2004 .

[13]  D. Black,et al.  How robust is the evidence on the effects of college quality? Evidence from matching , 2004 .

[14]  Jeffrey S. Racine,et al.  Nonparametric estimation of regression functions with both categorical and continuous data , 2004 .

[15]  B. Roe,et al.  The Effects of Farmland, Farmland Preservation, and Other Neighborhood Amenities on Housing Values and Residential Growth , 2004, Land Economics.

[16]  Q. Lib,et al.  Nonparametric estimation of regression functions with both categorical and continuous data , 2004 .

[17]  Daniel L. Millimet,et al.  Effects of Environmental Regulations on Manufacturing Plant Births: Evidence from a Propensity Score Matching Estimator , 2003, Review of Economics and Statistics.

[18]  Retaining Open Space with Purchasable Development Rights Programs , 2003 .

[19]  L. Lynch,et al.  Is There Evidence of a Critical Mass in the Mid-Atlantic Agriculture Sector Between 1949 and 1997? , 2003, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.

[20]  Lori Lynch,et al.  Capitalization of Open Spaces into Housing Values and the Residential Property Tax Revenue Impacts of Agricultural Easement Programs , 2003, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.

[21]  Elena G. Irwin,et al.  The Effects of Open Space on Residential Property Values , 2002, Land Economics.

[22]  A. Tegene,et al.  Farmland Protection: The Role of Public Preferences for Rural Amenities , 2002 .

[23]  John F. McDonald,et al.  Land Values in a Newly Zoned City , 2002, Review of Economics and Statistics.

[24]  Jeffrey M. Wooldridge,et al.  Solutions Manual and Supplementary Materials for Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data , 2003 .

[25]  Jeffrey A. Smith,et al.  Does Matching Overcome Lalonde's Critique of Nonexperimental Estimators? , 2000 .

[26]  D Ledbury,et al.  1997 census of agriculture. , 1999 .

[27]  Petra E. Todd,et al.  Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator , 1998 .

[28]  Petra E. Todd,et al.  Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme , 1997 .

[29]  P. J. Parks,et al.  Preserving Agricultural Land with Farmland Assessment: New Jersey as a Case Study , 1996, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.

[30]  B. Gardner.  Commercial Agriculture in Metropolitan Areas: Economics and Regulatory Issues , 1994, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.

[31]  J. Lane,et al.  Development Rights and the Differential Assessment of Agricultural Land: Fractional Valuation of Farmland is Ineffective for Preserving Open Space and Subsidizes Speculation , 1988 .

[32]  D. Rubin,et al.  The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects , 1983 .

[33]  N. M. Idaikkadar,et al.  CHAPTER 10 – Census of Agriculture , 1979 .

[34]  B. Gardner,et al.  The Economics of Agricultural Land Preservation , 1977 .

[35]  R. W. Burgess,et al.  BUREAU OF THE CENSUS , 1992 .