Reconciling landowner income and land prices: the case of Spanish and California oak woodlands

We integrate data from commercial operations, non-market private amenities and capital gains to measure landowner income and profitability in six oak woodland case studies from Spain and California. Results show that private amenities make the greatest contribution to landowner income, while commercial benefits alone fall short of explaining land prices. We also estimate landowner self-employed labor income, but its contribution is marginal. Total real profitability ranges from 3.2 to 7.8% in the Spanish cases and from 6.0 to 9.3% in the California cases, showing that these oak woodlands compete with alternative investments when private amenities and capital gains are considered.