Econometric analysis of farming land abandonment in the Tohoku region using community level data

The agricultural census of 2015 indicated that the total area of abandoned farming land reached to 424,090 ha which accounts for nearly 10% of total farming land in Japan. However, little is known about economic, social, and geographical characteristics that lead farmers to leave their farming lands idle. Tobit and quantile regression analysis are used to identify the underlying factors and the promising countermeasures using community level data in the Tohoku region of Japan. Our regression analysis shows that the location and steepness of farming land are key causal factors, indicating that farming land abandonment is more likely to take place in mountainous and remote areas.