Land rental markets had played a critical role in providing farms access to Ukraine’s agricultural land before the ban on land sales was lifted in 2021. This paper examines whether rental-based land relations can promote land use by more productive farms in the context of imperfect institutions. In particular, we examine whether Ukrainian farms’ decisions to rent land are linked to their agricultural ability. Utilizing a rich panel of more than 16,000 Ukrainian commercial agricultural producers for 2005–2015, we analyze demand-side determinants of participation in the land rental market. The evidence suggests that farms’ total factor productivity is disconnected from their decisions to rent land. Land accumulation appears to be driven by other context-related factors, including existing local land concentration and orientation toward cash crop production. Results call for launching a land sales market and improving rental market infrastructure because these measures can align land rental prices with the value of the marginal product of land.

中文翻译：

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“谁有的，还要给谁更多”？乌克兰的土地租赁决策和技术效率


在 2021 年土地出售禁令解除之前，土地租赁市场在为农场提供使用乌克兰农业用地的机会方面发挥了关键作用。本文探讨了在制度不完善的情况下，基于租赁的土地关系是否可以促进生产力更高的农场使用土地。我们特别研究了乌克兰农场租赁土地的决定是否与其农业能力有关。我们利用 2005 年至 2015 年超过 16,000 名乌克兰商业农业生产者的丰富样本，分析了参与土地租赁市场的需求方决定因素。有证据表明，农场的全要素生产率与其租赁土地的决定无关。土地积累似乎是由其他与环境相关的因素驱动的，包括现有的当地土地集中度和经济作物生产的方向。结果要求启动土地销售市场并改善租赁市场基础设施，因为这些措施可以使土地租赁价格与土地边际产品价值保持一致。