Land Price Dynamics in the South of Ukraine (Second Half of the 19th – Beginning of the 20th Century)

Abstract

The main factors and special reasons that influenced the land price formation in the southern region of Ukraine in the second half of the 19^th – the beginning of the 20^th century are presented in the paper. Among them were the areas of agricultural land available for sale, the lowest population density in Ukraine, the dependence of agricultural production on the laws of a market economy, the balance between supply and demand for land. It is noted that the Peasant Reform of 1861 and Stolypin Agrarian Reform played a key role in the formation of the land market and its price formation.

It is stated that the reform of 1861 gave impetus to increase the market turnover of land and led to its mobilization. The main reasons for the increase in land prices in the post-reform period were the reduction in the size of aristocratic land ownership, the arrears of private land ownership, the existing demand for land and its profitability, and rising rental prices for land.

It is proved that Stolypin Agrarian Reform caused a new wave of market mobilization of land ownership, which led to higher land prices. The role of the Peasants’ Land Bank and the Nobles’ Land Bank in the financial and land support of the agricultural sector of the South Ukraine economy is determined. It is stated that the above-mentioned banks acted mainly to the benefit of the well-to-do population, which led to the intensification of the process of large amounts of land concentration in their hands and contributed to the burst-up of land-poor peasants. It is traced that the price of land in the southern region of Ukraine from the second half of the 19^th to the beginning of the 20^th century increased by an average of 200% – from 15-25 to 200 rub. for a desiatyna.