Institutional change and agricultural land use in transition countries : understanding institutional constraints of farmers' decision making

Depending on multiple factors and regional characteristics, the area of agricultural land fuctuates with varying scale and speed. These fuctuations generally occur as a result of changes in a way individuals use their land. Human activities, such as agricultural expansion, intensifcation, or land abandonment, play a signifcant role not only in maintaining economic well-being and food security but also in the transformation of landscapes, environmental conditions, and biodiversity. Environmental and socio-economic factors are claimed to be the dominant determinants of land use change; however, the impact of institutional change cannot be neglected. Post-Soviet and allied countries introducing market-oriented reforms during the last three decades demonstrated profound fuctuations in the area of cultivated land. Simultaneously, this period was associated with substantial institutional shifts in the agricultural sector of transition economies. Despite the adoption of similar reforms after 1990, these countries have been following discrepant trajectories in agricultural development. The sources of discrepancies were not only unequal initial institutional conditions but also land reforms that were implemented partially or remained written only on the paper without entering into force. In order to investigate how institutional change infuences land use in transition economies, this dissertation considers an analysis of land tenure settings at cross-country and individual levels.