Public, Semi-public and Non-profit Ownership of Agricultural Lands in the Market Economy

Dear Colleagues,

In a market economy, ownership of agricultural land is often presumed to be private and for profit. Compared to forestry, however, we know surprisingly little about the extent of public and semi-public or non-profit ownership of agricultural lands. There is some empirical evidence that the share of agricultural land owned by public entities (e.g., municipalities, cities, and states) or semi-public and non-profit organizations (e.g., public companies, foundations, or trusts) could be substantial, and increased recently. In Germany, for instance, semi-public conservation foundations became large-scale land owners and usually rent out land to private farmers. In the US and UK, conservation land trusts have a long tradition, but also grew in recent decades and new movements of community land trusts for urban agriculture can be observed. To be sure, public and semi-public ownership of agricultural land is partly a historical legacy, but seemingly new drives occur. The social responsibility of land ownership in the face of sustainable development is one of them. Increasingly, public goods and services are demanded from private lands, be it for reasons of recreation, biodiversity conservation, or climate protection. Public, semi-public, and non-profit ownership might then be regarded as socially beneficial or even preferable compared to private, for-profit ownership.

This Special Issue intends to shed a light on the extent, development, and consequences of public, semi-public, and non-profit ownership of agricultural land in market economies in urban and rural settings. What is the significance of these types of agricultural land ownership? How do public and semi-public entities behave on agricultural land markets? How do they contract with farmers? Do public, semi-public, or non-profit owners provide more public goods from agricultural lands? We invite scholars from different social science disciplines to contribute reviews, research articles, case studies, or perspectives to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Volker Beckmann
Guest Editor

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• public land ownership
• semi-public land ownership
• non-profit land ownership
• rental contracts
• public goods
• agricultural lands
• land markets