Agricultural Policy, Off-farm Income, and Farmland Values: The Case of South Korea

Farmland plays a dual role for farm business households; it can be both a production cost and an asset. As a production cost, farmland affects farm production decisions. As an asset, farmland comprises 80% of the total farm households’ assets. The total land available for farming is decreasing due to non-farming demand for land. The primary goal of this dissertation is to examine the impact of farm household income on farmland values. Specifically, I will assess the impact of off-farm income and government subsidies on farmland values in South Korean farm households. The majority of the studies on off-farm income, government agricultural subsidies, and farmland values have been conducted using either United States or other developed countries’ data. This dissertation contributes to the literature by investigating the impact of off-farm income and government subsidies in Korean agricultural households. Examining Korea’s situation will improve the decision making of farm policymakers and researchers who are interested in reducing agricultural subsidies and increasing the economic well-being of Korean farm households