The highest and best use applies to a free market economy in which property owners pursue rational choices in maximizing income. To the economist, this is a method of allocating land to the most urgently needed use through the operation of the market. In other words, land is at its highest and best use if the owner maximizes the income to the land. To the economist, the highest and best use of land is that which has the highest comparative advantage or the least comparative disadvantage relative to other uses. In line with this concept, developers bid according to potential land uses, and developers of commercial or industrial sites will usually outbid others who plan to utilize the land for residential or agricultural purposes.