Exploring How Land Tenure Affects Farmers’ Landscape Values: Evidence from a Choice Experiment

Sofía Monroy-Sais, Eduardo García-Frapolli, Francisco Mora, Margaret Skutsch, Alejandro Casas, Peter Rijnaldus Wilhelmus Gerritsen and David González-Jiménez
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Sofía Monroy-Sais: Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IIES-UNAM), Morelia C.P. 58190, Mexico
Eduardo García-Frapolli: Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IIES-UNAM), Morelia C.P. 58190, Mexico
Francisco Mora: Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IIES-UNAM), Morelia C.P. 58190, Mexico
Margaret Skutsch: Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (CIGA-UNAM), Morelia C.P. 58190, Mexico
Alejandro Casas: Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IIES-UNAM), Morelia C.P. 58190, Mexico
Peter Rijnaldus Wilhelmus Gerritsen: Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Centro Universitario de la Costa Sur, Universidad de Guadalajara (CU Costa Sur-UDG), Autlán C.P. 48900, Mexico
David González-Jiménez: Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IIES-UNAM), Morelia C.P. 58190, Mexico

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Values play an important role in farmers’ land management decisions, becoming increasingly relevant when designing environmental policy. One key element that influences farming decisions is the land tenure under which farmers and their land are embedded, which represents different sets of rights for farmers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elicit farmers’ values regarding the social and ecological attributes of the landscape, and determine how these values vary according to differences in land rights. We performed this exercise in the two most important land tenure systems in rural Mexico. We carried out a choice experiment to understand preferences for different landscape attributes such as vegetation cover, surface water, terrain slope, and type of property. Then, we probed how these preferences change according to the land rights that farmers hold. We found that surface water was consistently the most important landscape attribute. However, there were clear differences that were related to land rights for some values, such as for example, vegetation cover. Institutional mechanisms such as boundary rules and conflicting values are part of the explanation of these differences. These results provide a bridge to understanding farmers’ management decisions, and in the future, improving sustainable development.

Keywords: ejidos; agrarian communities; Jalisco coast; natural resources; management decisions; stated preferences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:4321-:d:184450

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