AGRICULTURAL LAND MARKET IN SLOVAKIA UNDER THE NEW LAND ACQUISITION LAW

This paper discusses recent developments in the market for agricultural land in Slovakia related to the new law on land acquisition. The stated objective of this law is to protect agricultural land from non-agricultural use. We analyze land-related data as reported by sellers in the newly established Registry of offers of agricultural land administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Our results show that the regions with the most fertile soils are not the ones with the highest average land prices. Moreover, we show that the average regional prices are very sensitive to price outliers. For example, the average price for agricultural land in Slovakia is 27,200 EUR per hectare. However, this price falls down to 6,300 EUR per hectare if only observations with prices below 10,000 EUR per hectare are considered