Oleg Nivievskyi (Kyiv School of Economics): Local versus Central Public Land Governance: Evidence from the Spatial Analysis of Land Auctions in Ukraine

Abstract:
Who is better in managing public land – local or central governments? We are looking at this empirical issue by using the web-scrapped universe of the data on farmland rental auctions in Ukraine that could be organized either by local or central governments. On average, auctions organized by local councils are 24 percentage points are more likely to result in a successful transaction, in 28% higher land rental prices and 62% larger price increase during the bidding phase of the auction than those organized by the central government. We explain these results by systematic differences in incentives and accountability behind the organizers.