View source for Land (economics)

{{Short description|Use of land as capital for production}}
{{About|Land economics|the journal|Land Economics}}
{{see also|Natural resource economics}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2018}}
{{Template:Georgism|ideas}}
In [[economics]], '''land''' comprises all [[natural resource|naturally occurring resources]] as well as geographic [[land]]. Examples include particular [[geographical location]]s, [[mineral deposit]]s, forests, fish stocks, atmospheric quality, [[geostationary orbit]]s, and portions of the [[electromagnetic spectrum]]. Supply of these resources is fixed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/land-economics|title=Land - economics|website=britannica.com}}</ref>

==Factor of production==
Land is considered one of the three [[factors of production]] (also sometimes called the three producer goods) along with [[capital (economics)|capital]], and [[labor (economics)|labor]]. Natural resources are fundamental to the [[Production theory basics|production]] of all [[good (economics)|goods]], including [[capital goods]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/33624679|title=Economics|last1=Samuelson|first1=Paul|last2=Nordhaus|first2=William|publisher=McGraw-Hill/Irwin|year=2010|isbn=978-0-07-351129-0|location=New York}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> While the particular role of land in the economy was extensively debated in [[classical economics]] it played a minor role in the [[neoclassical economics]] dominant in the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing|last1=Ryan-Collins|first1=Josh|last2=Lloyd|first2=Toby|last3=Macfarlane|first3=Laurie|publisher=Zed Books|year=2017|isbn=978-1786991188}}</ref> Income derived from ownership or control of [[natural resources]] is referred to as [[economic rent|rent]].<ref name=":0" />

== Ownership ==
{{Main|Land tenure}}
Because no man created the land, it does not have a definite original proprietor, owner or user.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/mill/john_stuart/m645p/complete.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914163911/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/mill/john_stuart/m645p/complete.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 14, 2009|title=The Principles of Political Economy|last=Mill|first=John Stuart|others=Book 2, Chapter 2, §6|year=1848}}</ref>  
{{Blockquote|text=No man made the land. It is the original inheritance of the whole species.
|author=[[John Stuart Mill]]
}}

Consequently, conflicting claims on geographic locations and mineral deposits have historically led to disputes over their economic rent and contributed to many civil wars and revolutions.

In the context of geographic locations the resulting conflict is regularly understood as the [[Land Question|land question]] (see e.g. United Kingdom,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2019/04/england-s-new-enclosures-why-questions-land-ownership-are-entering|title=England's new enclosures: why questions of land ownership are entering the political mainstream|last=Christophers|first=Brett|date=2019-04-18|access-date=2019-05-01}}</ref> South Africa,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c81543d8-a61b-11e8-926a-7342fe5e173f |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/c81543d8-a61b-11e8-926a-7342fe5e173f |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Land reform in South Africa is crucial for inclusive growth|last=Ramaphosa|first=Cyril|date=2018-08-23|website=Financial Times|access-date=2019-05-01}}</ref> Canada<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://vancouversun.com/opinion/opinion-the-land-question-should-be-a-matter-of-concern|title=Opinion: The land question should be a matter of concern|last=Hunter|first=Troy|date=2017-01-30|work=Vancouver Sun|access-date=2015-09-02}}</ref>).

== Addressing the land question ==

=== Land reform ===
[[Land reform]] programs are designed to redistribute possession and/or use of geographic land.

===Georgism===
[[Georgism|Georgists]] hold that this implies a perfectly [[elasticity (economics)|inelastic]] [[supply curve]] (i.e., zero elasticity), suggesting that a [[land value tax]] that recovers the [[Economic rent#Land rent|rent of land]] for public purposes would not affect the [[opportunity cost]] of using land, but would instead only decrease the value of owning it.  This view is supported by evidence that although land can come on and off the market, market inventories of land show, if anything, an inverse relationship to price (i.e., negative elasticity).

==Significance==
Land plays a vital role in advanced economies. In the UK, the "non-produced asset of land" accounts for 51% of the country's total net worth,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/bulletins/nationalbalancesheet/2017estimates|title=The UK national balance sheet estimates: 2017|date=2018-08-01|website=Office for National Statistics|access-date=2019-05-01}}</ref> implying that it plays a more critical role in the economy than capital.

== Academic ==
Some United Kingdom and commonwealth universities offer courses in ''land economy'', where economics is studied alongside law, business regulation, surveying, and the built and natural environments.<ref name="cam.ac.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/courses/undergradstudy/prospectus.htm |title=Land Economy Undergraduate Prospectus |access-date=2009-05-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912080021/http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/courses/undergradstudy/prospectus.htm |archive-date=2009-09-12 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/degree-programmes/286/rural-surveying-and-rural-property-management/|title=Land Economy - Rural Surveying - Postgraduate Taught Degrees - Study Here - The University of Aberdeen|website=www.abdn.ac.uk|access-date=2019-11-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/organisation/commonwealth-association-surveying-and-land-economy-casle|title=Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE) - The Commonwealth|website=thecommonwealth.org|date=30 July 2013}}</ref>  This mode of study at Cambridge dates back to 1917 when [[William Cecil Dampier]] suggested the creation of a school of [[rural economics|rural economy]] at the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/about-us/a-brief-history-of-land-economy|title=A brief history of Land Economy — Department of Land Economy|website=www.landecon.cam.ac.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303060221/https://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/about-us/a-brief-history-of-land-economy|archive-date=3 March 2015}}</ref>

==Accounting==
As a tangible [[asset]], land is represented in accounting as a [[fixed asset]] or a [[capital asset]].

== Sustainability ==
{{see also|Sustainable development|Land-use planning|Land use, land-use change, and forestry|Sustainable agriculture}} 
The [[sustainable]] [[land use|use of land]] is the focus of some economic theories.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hoffmanncentre.chathamhouse.org/article/rethinking-the-land-economy-keeping-15degc-in-sight/|title=Rethinking the Land Economy: Keeping 1.5°C in Sight by Bernice Lee|website=Hoffmann Centre for Sustainable Resource Economy}}</ref>

== See also ==

* {{annotated link|Citizen's dividend}}
* {{annotated link|Economics of Land Degradation Initiative}}
* {{annotated link|Factors of production}}
* {{annotated link|Land consumption}}
* {{annotated link|Land monopoly}}
* {{annotated link|Land reform}}
* {{annotated link|Land value tax}}
* {{annotated link|Means of production}}
* {{annotated link|Magic: The Gathering#Luck vs. skill}}
* {{annotated link|Property rights (economics)}}
* {{annotated link|Real estate appraisal}}
* {{annotated link|Social metabolism}}

{{portal bar|Business and economics|Ecology|Environment}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Anthony C. Fisher (1987). ''"Natural resources,"'' ''[[The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics]]'', v. 3, pp.&nbsp;612–14.
* João Pedro Galhano Alves  (2009). ''"The artificial simulacrum world. The geopolitical elimination of {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|communitary}} land use and its effects on our present global condition"'', Eloquent Books, New York, USA, 71 pp.
* Pierre Coulomb (1994). ''"De la terre à l’état: Eléments pour un cours de politique agricole"'', ENGREF, INRA-ESR Laboratoire d’Economie des Transitions, Montpellier, France, 47 pp.
* Van Sickle, John V.; Simpson, Herbert D.; Spengler, Edwin H.; Fisher, Ernest M.; Weinstein, A. H.; Wehrwein, George S.; Ely, Richard T. (1929). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1809976 "Land Economics"]. ''The American Economic Review''. '''19''' (1): 45–55.

{{land use}}
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[[Category:Environmental economics]]
[[Category:Urban economics]]
[[Category:Factors of production]]
[[Category:Georgism]]
[[Category:Land value taxation]]
[[Category:Natural resources]]
[[Category:Production economics]]