Land transactions in rural areas markets, social networks, and Government institutions

Abstract

This thesis explored the issues around land ownership and land use in rural Scotland and Japan, aiming to examine the mechanism of land transactions focusing both on its socioeconomic characteristics and the influence of policy; and to inform the design of future land policies through answering the following Research Questions: How do social networks and government institutions work in rural land markets?; and What challenges and lessons for ongoing land reform and policy can be drawn from this study? In the thesis, Scotland and Japan were selected for the study due to their histories of land transactions associated with dynamic changes brought about by a combination of land reforms and policy measures. Chapter 2 reviewed and compared the policy context for land reform and land use policy along with a discussion of the economic trends in agricultural land markets in both countries, then Chapter 3 presented the theoretical frameworks based on the two theories that can account for different social constructs: New Economic Sociology (NES) emphasising the role of social networks and New Institutional Economics (NIE) with a greater emphasis on the role of government institutions. The research combined insights from both of these theories focusing on transaction costs in land markets, and then Chapter 4 explains the utility of a case study approach with Social Network Analysis using qualitative interviews as an appropriate methodology for the research to explore the human relationships in land market transactions. Chapter 5 provided the results of the exploration of two Parishes (Scotland) and Shuraku (Japan), followed by identifying the challenges and lessons for ongoing land reform and policy. As the findings, key actors and their relationship are illustrated followed by the description of the function of intermediaries who act as “trusted brokers” having the impacts on transaction costs. It also revealed the gaps between the institutional goals and activities of social networks before moving onto Chapter 6 which drew the answers to the RQs. The research highlighted the tightness of the existing social networks in rural communities, and how trust and good reputation among the actors enable land transactions to happen through their connections as the market channel. It also pointed the possibility of the exclusion of other actors from outside the community, and stresses the need to build “institutional trust”. Chapter 7 summarised the key findings as 1) Land markets are deeply embedded in social networks; 2) Trust is a key function of agricultural land markets; 3) Future land policy design should involve rural society more broadly. Based on the conclusion that social relationships within/around the community is actually the epicentre of land policy delivery, further research is needed to understand the unique nature of farmland markets in comparison with different types of land and other commodities. Exploring the cultural dimensions of land transactions would be an interesting avenue for future study