Agricultural Land Development in the Northeast United States: A Spatial Simultaenous Growth Equilibrium Model

This study introduces a spatial simultaneous growth model to examine the impact of regional growth on agricultural land development. County level data on growth factors, land values, farmland density and a set of exogenous variables are used from 12 Northeast states. Results indicate that regional growth, accessibility, and growth in neighboring counties may negatively impact agricultural land density. Farmland protection policies did not have a significant impact in reducing agricultural land development. Based on these results, cross-county and cross-state land use policy coordination may provide better land management outcomes than a county-level focus that disregards growth and land development interdependences.