%0 Journal Article %A Man Li %A JunJie Wu %A Xiangzheng Deng %T Identifying Drivers of Land Use Change in China: A Spatial Multinomial Logit Model Analysis %D 2013 %R 10.3368/le.89.4.632 %J Land Economics %P 632-654 %V 89 %N 4 %X This paper presents an empirical analysis of major drivers of land use change in China from 1988 to 2005. We compile a geographic information system database and develop a new method to estimate an econometric land use model that explicitly takes into account the spatial interactions between land use decisions. Results indicate that increasing urban land value was a major driver of farmland development, while rising rural income was a primary driver of conversion of farmland to forests and grassland. The growth of urban income and road density reduces grassland conversion but increases deforestation. (JEL Q15, R14) %U https://le.uwpress.org/content/wple/89/4/632.full.pdf