Price repression in the Slovak agricultural land market

Data on land use and institutions clarify issues associated with low prices and thinness in the Slovak agricultural land market. Three explanations for price repression are assessed, including demand contractions, supply expansions, and transaction costs. Price repression arises from the direct and indirect effects of policy interventions and pre-transition realities. The conceptual model characterizes efficiency losses associated with price repression, and the results suggest that attenuating its sources will create social efficiency gains. However, the private gains of such reforms are found to accrue to small-stake landowners at the expense of the politically powerful interests associated with agricultural cooperatives