RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Could State-Level Variation in the Number of Land Trusts Make Economic Sense?
JF Land Economics
JO Land Econ
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 311
OP 327
DO 10.2307/3147019
VO 79
IS 3
A1 Albers, Heidi J.
A1 Ando, Amy W.
YR 2003
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/79/3/311.abstract
AB The number of land trusts in a state varies widely across the United States. Could such variation make economic sense? This paper models the optimal number of private conservation agents in a region and highlights two competing forces: spatial externalities in conservation that increase the efficiency of having few agents and diversity in conservation goals that means that specialization and de-concentration can be efficient. A state-level, count data analysis indicates that some observed patterns in the numbers of trusts are consistent with patterns expected in the optimal numbers of trusts. Some results identify areas for research and possible policy intervention. (JEL Q24, L31, H41)