Farm Landowners' Objectives in Finland: Two Approaches for Owner Classifications

Abstract

Landowner classifications based on their objectives have been used to describe the heterogeneous group of landowners. As the accurate information on landowners preferences is essential in policy planning and evaluation of the effects of various policy instruments, there is a need to develop feasible methods for classifying land owners. In this study we apply objective based classification to farmland owners using the data of Finnish farmland owners. We compare two classification methods, traditional cluster analysis and latent class analysis, in terms of their criterion validity. The comparison of criterion validity, consisting from convergent, concurrent, discriminant and predictive components of validity, revealed that latent class analysis was superior method. The analysis showed that objective grouping of farmland owners was relevant predictor of landowner behavior, and is thus valuable information for agricultural policy makers.3

Landowner response to policies regulating land improvements in Finland: Lease or search for other options?

“…At the same time, the price of agricultural land can be as high as D 8000/ha. These figures signal that landowners may be reluctant to sell their agricultural land, partly because they recognize other land values besides market prices and potential capital gains (Pouta et al, 2011). Changes in taxation policies would only partially solve the problem, as a large number of passive owners are unwilling to sell their land even under significant tax waivers (Myyrä and Pouta, 2010).…”

“…These items were used in latent class analysis to form landowner groups (Pouta et al, 2011). As a result of this latent class analysis based on land ownership objective statements, five owner groups were formed (reported in detail in Pouta et al, 2011). The first group comprised agricultural earners, who emphasized objectives that were associated with income, but also with economic security.…”

“…The items that only related to forests were removed and some new items related to agricultural land were added (Myyrä et al, 2008). These items were used in latent class analysis to form landowner groups (Pouta et al, 2011). As a result of this latent class analysis based on land ownership objective statements, five owner groups were formed (reported in detail in Pouta et al, 2011).…”

“…It has been suggested that there may also be heterogeneity in landowner reactions to a policy of land improvement obligations, i.e. some owners may be more inclined to continue as landlords and invest in their land, while others may search for alternative options (Pouta et al, 2011).…”

‘More-than-human’ resilience(s)? Enhancing community in Finnish forest farms

“…According to the MMM (2011) 29% is earned behind a desk rather than in the field, conflicting with what Finnish farmers consider to constitute 'good' farming (Silvasti, 2003a). Finland receives a higher value of EU subsidies than its relative weight in agricultural output value (Eurostat, 2013) because of low productivity (Pouta et al, 2011) and rural depopulation (MMM, 2011). Within…”