Environmental policies and agricultural land values: Evidence from the Dutch nutrient quota system

The paper analyzes the impact of the phosphate-based animal production righ ts on agricultural land values in the Netherlands. We claim that the existe nce of mandatory production control program with regional restriction on tr ading causes a disproportional increase in land prices in the surplus regio n where the quota is binding, relative to the deficit region where the quot a is not binding, and that the increase in the cost of environmental compli ance should generate an eroding effect on the existing gap in land prices. The parameters of an inverse land demand model estimated with panel data su pport both hypotheses. (Q24).