Robert J. Johnston is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and associate director of the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program, both at the University of Connecticut.Stephen K. Swallow is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island.

• Introduction: Economics and Contemporary Land Use Policy -- Robert J. Johnston and Stephen K. Swallow PART I: Economic Approaches to Land Use Policy Land, Economic Change, and Economic Doctrine -- Emery N. Castle Property Rights and Land Use Conflicts: Reconciling Myth and Reality - Daniel W. Bromley PART II: Explaining Land Use Conversion: Spatial Perspectives Forecasting Residential Land Use Change -- Elena G. Irwin, Kathleen P. Bell, and Jacqueline Geoghegan Forecasting Development at the Suburban Fringe -- Joshua Templeton, Diane Hite, and Brent Sohngen Describing Land Use Change in Multidisciplinary Analyses -- Jeffrey D. Kline Critical Mass: Does the Number of Productive Farmland Acres or Farms Affect Farmland Loss? -- Lori Lynch PART III: Land Conservation: Implications for Value and Taxation Are Agricultural Land Preservation Programs Self-Financing? -- Jacqueline Geoghegan, Lori Lynch, and Shawn J. Bucholtz Land Development and Current Use Assessment - Richard W. England and Robert D. Mohr Alternative Valuation Strategies for Public Open-Space Purchases: Stated versus Market Evidence -- John Loomis, Andrew F. Seidl, Kerri L. Rollins and Vicki Rameker PART IV: Rural Amenities and Landscape Conservation A Multifunctional Approach to Northeastern Agriculture -- Sandra S. Batie Farmland Preservation Programs and the Importance of Rural Amenities --Cynthia J. Nickerson and Daniel M. Hellerstein Support for Conservation Policies and Values for Conservation: Are They Related? -- Robert J. Johnston, Stephen K. Swallow, Dana Marie Bauer, and Lisa D. Philo Integrating Biophysical and Economic Information to Guide Land Conservation Investments -- Paul J. Ferraro PART V: Conclusion Economics and Land Use Policy: Where Do We Go from Here? -- Robert J. Johnston

'What distinguishes this important and innovative volume is the broad consideration of benefits and costs associated with the development or conservation of particular pieces of land. Further, the role of incentives in policy formation and land use decisions is analyzed explicitly. With this volume, readers have a valuable new resource for thinking about and addressing the consequences of unrelenting urban expansion into rural areas.' Stephen J. Goetz, The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, Pennsylvania State University