This paper seeks to increase our understanding of how land is exchanged between suppliers and demanders. Most current land-price theories, and the land-use models which are derived from them, assume that co-ordination between suppliers and demanders is achieved through the price mechanism. There are, however, other possible co-ordination mechanisms, including imposed rules and mutual trust. In order to take account of these, the effect of institutions has to be included in the theories. Transaction cost economics, as one strand of institutional economics, seeks to explain which co-ordination mechanism is chosen in practice. In this paper, the application of these ideas is illustrated with findings from a detailed survey of how Dutch housing associations acquire land. It appears that these housing associations choose to acquire land through the mechanism of mutual trust when there is a network in place which they can use, and to acquire through the market when that mechanism is not available. This application shows how the theoretical ideas can be operationalised and tested in practice. If this were done more widely, the assumption that price is the main co-ordination mechanism could be tested critically. The outcome would be important not only for land-price theory, but also for land-use policy.
If land taxation is to be used as an instrument of land-use planning, then it is the intention that the taxation affect land use. If land is taxed so as to raise income for the public purse, or if charges are levied on development to help nance the associated external works, then it is usually the intention that the tax has no, or only a small, effect on land use. The size of these effects can be estimated if the price elasticities of demand for, and supply of, land are known. This paper sets out the theory necessary for making these estimations, and applies it to some topical issues in the Netherlands. The estimated price elasticities are low. As a result, it is predicted that the effects on land use of some taxes which have been proposed (to reduce the use of land for house building, and to stimulate the use of contaminated land and brown eld sites) would be small.
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