Agricultural support, farm land values and sectoral adjustment. The implications for policy reform

Governments intervene in the agricultural sector through policies that both support and shape agricultural production. This leads to two important outcomes. First, agriculture specific programmes intended to increase the welfare of farmers can become capitalised into asset values. Second, many policies, in particular regulatory ones, reduce asset mobility, resulting in reduced economic efficiency due a sub-optimal allocation of resources. This study focuses on the capitalisation of government support into land rents and prices. It assesses the consequences of inflated asset values, and suggests lessons for future policy making.

Contents:
Executive Summary
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Theoretical Foundations for Asset Capitalisation
Chapter 3. Land Prices, Empirical Evidence and Literature Review
Chapter 4. A Framework to Analyse Policies that Affect Asset Capitalisation and Mobility
Chapter 5. Policy Implications and Conclusions
Annex 1. Exposition of Theoretical Foundations for Asset Capitalisation
Annex 2. Case Studies

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