While scholars long recognized the importance of land markets as a key driver of rural non-farm development and transformation in rural areas, evidence on the extent of their operation and the nature of participants remains limited. We use household data from 6 countries to show that there is great potential for such markets to increase productivity and equalize factor ratios. While rental mark...

Migration is considered a pathway out of poverty for many rural households in developing countries. National policies can discourage households from exploiting external employment opportunities through the distortion of capital markets. Studies in China show that the presence of state and collectively owned land creates inefficiencies in the labor market. We examine the extent restrictions on l...

We conduct a national-scale analysis of the determinants of agricultural land values. The theoretical basis for the study is a spatial city model with stochastic returns to future land development. The empirical model of agricultural land prices is estimated with a crosssection on approximately three thousand counties in the contiguous US. The results provide evidence that option values associa...

Land policy, land rights and land reform have a critical bearing on economic development and poverty reduction in both rural and urban areas of the developing world. But land issues are often complex and politically difficult. For this reason they may be neglected. This draft Issues Paper seeks to promote discussion about the importance of land in poverty reduction strategy processes, in differ...