Nature versus Nurture: The Environment's Persistent Influence through the Modernization of American Agriculture
研究了20世纪美国平原农业现代化如何改变环境特征对农地价值的影响，发现尽管技术创新显著，环境因素对土地价值的影响基本保持不变。
Technological innovation in agriculture was substantial during the 20th century. Is “modern” technological control of the environment replacing a “primitive” dependency on natural advantages and disadvantages, or has agricultural production remained persistently dependent on the environment? This paper estimates how the 20th century modernization of United States Plains' agriculture changed the impact of environmental characteristics on agricultural land values. Despite substantial technological innovation and rising land values from 1945 to 2002, counties' environmental characteristics largely maintained influence on land values. Environmental change has become no less costly, as technological innovation has not reduced the importance of natural advantages or disadvantages.