Exploring drivers of farmland value and growth in Italy and Germany at regional level

Abstract

The recent renewed growing attractiveness of investments in farmland for agricultural and non-agricultural reasons  have raised new attention by European Union on factors able to influence the farmland value and on the enhancement of agricultural policies for supporting the development of European regions. Despite its importance, there is a very limited number of studies focusing on European context and a little concordance between the drivers affecting the farmland value and growth. Attempting to reduce the gap, this study investigates the determinants of farmland prices from 2000 to 2010 by exploring and comparing Italy and Germany that are interesting because of their similarity with respect to the outlined dichotomy between urbanized and farming counties/provinces. The comparison across models allows to discuss the cross-cutting and country-specific drivers affecting farmland value and the implication of these findings on agricultural policies recommendations.