| Introduction to the Lincoln Institute The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a nonprofit and tax-exempt educational institution established in 1974. Its mission as a school is to study and teach land policy, including land economics and land taxation. The Institute is supported primarily by the Lincoln Foundation, which was established in 1947 by the Cleveland industrialist John C. Lincoln. He drew inspiration from the ideas of Henry George, the nineteenth-century American political economist, social philosopher and author of the book Progress and Poverty. The Institute's goals are to integrate theory and practice to better shape land policy and to share understanding about the multidisciplinary forces that influence public policy. The Institute organizes its work in three departments and two programs:
Taking a Global Approach The Institute takes a wide-ranging approach to studying land and tax policy that recognizes the effects of the global economy and urbanization on land uses, land markets and fiscal decentralization. While the majority of the Institute's programs focus on land policy in the United States, we have established important affiliations with academic institutions, community-based organizations, and governmental and nongovernmental multilateral entities throughout the world. We have a special interest in Latin America and the Caribbean, where we have developed a collaborative network of scholars and public officials who work toward understanding and improving land policies in different contexts. We offer courses and workshops throughout the region and in the U.S. to examine economic and political changes that affect local land markets, land reform, and valuation and taxation systems. In Asia, we have a long-term collaboration with the International Center for Land Policy Training and Studies (ICLPTS) in Taiwan. We support and participate in several of their regular course offerings. In addition, we have undertaken training programs with several partners in the People's Republic of China, including Zhejiang University and the Ministry of Land and Resources. In Central and Eastern Europe, we work with officials from the public and private sectors to study and offer guidance on land and tax reforms in those emerging market economies. Sharing Our Work The Institute offers two types of courses: executive courses and professional development courses. Executive courses are offered by invitation to senior professionals in particular positions closely related to our interests in taxation, planning and development. These courses offer a unique opportunity for sharing and learning with peers and colleagues, and they provide invaluable lessons that will assist the participants in their work. Professional development courses are offered on an open admission basis for elected and appointed officials, policy advisers and analysts, taxation and assessing officers, planning and development practitioners, business and community leaders, scholars and advanced students from academic institutions, and concerned citizens. Some courses are cosponsored with professional and academic associations, community-based organizations, local government agencies and other educational institutions. Each of these courses is designed to assist the participants in developing useful skills and tools for their professional work. In addition, the Institute supports many national and international conferences, seminars and lectures. These programs are an important component in satisfying our mission to develop and impart knowledge of land economics, planning and development practice, and taxation issues to a broad audience to improve policy making and implementation. To help ensure the continued development of professional ideas and practices, the Institute supports visiting professors, postdoctoral and dissertation fellows, and professional fellows engaged in investigating aspects of land use and land-related taxation. The Lincoln Institute publishes and disseminates the work of its fellows and faculty members in five formats. Many of these works and additional papers and articles are also available on this website.
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