Shaping Policy and Advancing Research

For 100 years, Land Economics has bridged the gap between academic research and real-world applications. To highlight the journal's lasting impact, we’ve curated a selection of influential articles that represent key themes over the decades. These articles cover a range of topics, from foundational economic theories on land use to contemporary issues, such as sustainability, global land policy, and the evolving role of digital data in land economics.

To explore more, visit the archives on our website (2001–present) and on JSTOR (1925–2000). Articles from the 1920s are freely available on JSTOR, and we regularly publish recent content as open access.

1920s–1940s: Foundations and Early Development

When Land Economics was launched in 1925, then known as the Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics,  it focused on issues like property taxes, land reform, urbanization, and utility governance and played a crucial role in how these topics were addressed. The journal also published early work on conservation economics and agricultural policy. Many of the early studies laid the groundwork for ideas and methods that still influence contemporary discussions in urban planning, agriculture, and land policy.

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1950s–1970s: Urban Growth and Land Management

As cities expanded, the challenges of managing land became more complex, and researchers began to examine urban land use, transportation, and the environmental impacts of development. Seminal papers on nonmarket valuation also began to appear in the journal. This marked the start of a wider exploration of how land economics intersects with environmental issues.

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1980s–1990s: Nonmarket Valuation

By the late twentieth century, Land Economics became a primary outlet for papers in the rapidly growing subfield of nonmarket valuation of environmental goods.

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2000s–Present: Global Challenges and Technological Advances

Over the past couple of decades, the journal has increasingly focused on the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the shift toward renewable energy. It frequently examines international variations in land use policies and resource management, offering policy makers insights to address these issues more effectively. Recently, the intersection of big data and applied economics has emerged as a new area of emphasis, with researchers leveraging increased data availability and the credibility revolution to better understand environmental issues in the twenty-first century.

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A Sampling of Other Influential Papers in Land Economics

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