Ziemia rolnicza jako dobro publiczne – stanowisko austriackiej szkoły ekonomii
Agricultural land as a public good: the position of the Austrian school of economics

Summary/Abstract: The category of public goods is one of the fundamental elements of the concept of market failures and, at the same time, one of the arguments justifying state intervention. Supporters of this approach emphasize the specificity of land and its great importance in shaping sustainable economic development. The main goal of this article is to present a critical point of view towards the concept of agricultural land as a public good. The authors assumed that the theory of public goods, as a scientific justification for state interventionism in agriculture, including the agricultural land market, is much more polemical in nature than is presented in mainstream research. The position of the Austrian school of economics is presented as an alternative approach to researching the issue of agricultural land. The study is of a theoretical nature. The analysis is based on deductive reasoning and verbal logic. The analysis of the problem shows that, according to the criteria used in the theory of public goods, agricultural land is a typical private good. On the other hand, the issue of goods integrally connected with land, such as agricultural landscape and quality of the natural environment, is debatable. The specificity of these goods does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that state intervention is necessary. The following arguments are against state intervention: the inability to objectively identify social needs, the political and redistributive nature of state intervention, the existence of market mechanisms for financing public goods.

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