The governance of agricultural lands in marginal areas: A conceptual framework

The present study investigates how local communities cope with the restless abandonment of agricultural lands in marginal areas, providing a theoretical interpretation grounded on the European reality. An analytical framework, based on game theory and inspired by different strands of literature, is used to depict two decision-making processes. First, that of the individual landowner regarding the choice of whether to abandon the land, and the choice of how to intervene (cooperating / not cooperating). Then, the decision-making process of the regulator, concerning the choice of whether and how to support individual or cooperative land management initiatives. A key point of the developed framework is that of endogenizing the factors that contribute to trigger collective commitments, and the conditions that enable or hinder the achievement of desired objectives when collective initiatives are in place. Here, collective commitments are considered non-market regulations of land assets, and they prevail on market forces when land assets cease to be marketable. Results highlight that collective initiatives are preferred to individual actions when there is a high level of land fragmentation, but might need to be supported by external aids in order to be established, and effectively counter land abandonment. Most importantly, collective initiatives cannot be taken for granted and, to an extent, this study contribute to justifying why the rate of land abandonment is particularly severe in highly fragmented areas without collective initiatives. The paper ends with a summary of the main findings, highlights the limits of the approach used, and offers possible developments.