The paper studies the dynamics of agricultural land use at the global scale as measured from space using satellite imagery between 2003 and 2018. It shows large global movements in and out of cropland and correlates these movements with biophysical, economic, and institutional variables. The empirical identification of these effects relies on a two-stage approach that disentangles the effect of local geography from national-level characteristics. The paper finds that weak land governance, inequality, and pressure on land resources contribute to land degradation but are less able to explain movements into cropland which could more likely reflect national policies.

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