Leah J. Tsoodle

Factors Influencing Kansas Agricultural Farm Land Values

Land transactions typically involve a substantial investment of time and money for parties involved in the sale. Because of the size of the investment and infrequency of purchases/sales, significant personal interaction between buyer and seller often results. In this study, farmland sales in 104 of 105 Kansas counties from 1986–2000 were examined to quantify the influence of personal relationships and changes over time. Transactions between related parties resulted in a 43% discount on the per acre sales price. Results indicated that social capital effects have increased over time, with the discount on sales between related parties growing 2% per year. (JEL Q12, Q14)

Property Taxes and Residential Rents

Property taxes are a fundamental source of revenue for local governments, constituting 73% of local government tax revenue in the United States. In this article, we empirically investigate the impact of residential property taxes on residential rents. Using data from the American Housing Survey and the National League of Cities, we estimate numerous specifications of a hedonic rent equation with comprehensive unit-level, neighborhood-level and city-level controls. We find that a one standard deviation increase in the property tax rate raises residential rents by roughly

Agency Theory Issues in the Food Processing Industry

400 annually.

Combining hedonic and negative exponential techniques to estimate the market value of land

The objective is to identify significant determinants of performance for food processing firms over the 1992 to 2003 time period, focusing particularly on the issue of family control. Variables measuring firm effects such as asset size, governance, income distribution, and risk are used to explain return on equity. This study builds upon previous research by including a measure of income distribution in the food processing industry. Governance variables are found to be significant determinants of return on equity. The results found no evidence of agency problems in family-controlled firms during this time period.

DETERMINANTS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC FACULTY SALARIES: A QUARTER OF A CENTURY LATER

Given the importance of land valuation to various stakeholders, the objective of this research is to estimate a theoretically sound model to model the market value of land in Kansas, accounting for urban influence and site specific characteristics. The model is estimated using data on all sales of agricultural land in Kansas between 1996 and 2004. Results indicate that the upward, urban pressure on price is greater for Kansas City relative to Wichita. Kansas City had a much slower rate of decay than either Wichita or cities with a population of more than 10,000.