Economic instruments offer the potential to reach pre-determined environmental goals at a lower a... more Economic instruments offer the potential to reach pre-determined environmental goals at a lower aggregate cost than less incentive-based measures, but administrative underpinnings crucial to the effective functioning of economic instruments may be lacking in developing countries. For this reason, pragmatic analysts and policymakers often advocate the use of so-called ‘mixed’ instruments that combine incentive mechanisms with improved administrative arrangements. This paper explores such possibilities with reference to intensive shrimp aquaculture, which dominates shrimp farming and is an important economic sector in Thailand. This activity has been cited as a major contributor to environmental degradation in Thailand and several other countries through destruction of mangrove forests, salinization of land, sludge disposal, and, in particular, water pollution. An analytical model is presented that highlights some of the key opportunities and limitations of mixed instruments applied t...
That wealthier developing country households may rely more heavily on child labor than poorer hou... more That wealthier developing country households may rely more heavily on child labor than poorer households has come to be known as the “wealth paradox.” This paper tests for a wealth paradox with regard to common natural resource wealth by analyzing the relationship between child labor and improved common property forest management (CPFM) in Bolivia. Data are analyzed using several econometric methods and it is found that households experiencing more effective CPFM generally use more forest-based and total child labor. The analysis also confirms others’ findings of a private wealth paradox with regard to private land and extends the analysis to evaluate the effect of ownership of animals.Classification-JEL: Q23, Q56
Using the travel cost method, this study estimates the per-trip value and total annual value of r... more Using the travel cost method, this study estimates the per-trip value and total annual value of recreational visits to Portland’s Forest Park. Based on the opportunity cost of visitors’ time and the estimated costs of travel, we derive a demand function for visits to Forest Park on the assumption that visitors value their trips to Forest Park at least as highly as the alternative uses of their time and money. The Portland Parks and Recreation Department supplied survey data for 2277 Forest Park visitors, of which we use 1626 observations. We find that a truncated negative binomial regression best fits the data. This regression indicates an average value per visit of $240 and an annual value of $31 million, though we note some limitations that may have biased this figure upwards. Additional results include a summary of visitor activities, durations and a profile of the socioeconomic statuses of Forest Park visitors. Finally, we recommend that future research implement a contingent va...
ABSTRACTThis paper analyzes behavioral change spurred by better common property forest management... more ABSTRACTThis paper analyzes behavioral change spurred by better common property forest management (CPFM), with a focus on on-farm tree planting. Results from our theoretical household model suggest that on-farm trees, which provide products that can substitute for those from common forests, should be stimulated by better CPFM systems. We test this finding using data from a household survey conducted in the Bolivian Andes in 2000. We find that better CPFM at its highest level of aggregation is positively correlated with more and higher quality on-farm trees. In terms of less aggregated indices, relatively few variables are significant, though two particularly important aspects of forest property rights – access clarity and the existence of formal penalties for overuse – actually reduce on-farm tree planting. We therefore conclude that in general synergies between individual CPFM components are most critical for behavioral change, but improvement of property rights aspects of CPFM may...
Traditional energy technologies and consumer products contribute to household well-being in diver... more Traditional energy technologies and consumer products contribute to household well-being in diverse ways but also often harm household air quality. We review the problem of household air pollution at a global scale, focusing particularly on the harmful effects of traditional cooking and heating. Drawing on the theory of household production, we illustrate the ambiguous relationship between household well-being and adoption of behaviors and technologies that reduce air pollution. We then review how the theory relates to the seemingly contradictory findings emerging from the literature on developing country household demand for clean fuels and stoves. In conclusion, we describe an economics research agenda to close the knowledge gaps so that policies and programs can be designed and evaluated to solve the global household air pollution problem.
Land degradation, in the form of soil erosion and nutrient depletion, threatens food security and... more Land degradation, in the form of soil erosion and nutrient depletion, threatens food security and the sustainability of agricultural production in many developing countries. Governments and development agencies have invested substantial resources in promoting soil conservation practices, in an effort to improve environmental conditions and reduce poverty. However, very limited rigorous empirical work has examined the economics of adopting soil conservation technology. This paper investigates the impact of stone bunds1 on crop production value per hectare in low and high rainfall areas of the Ethiopian highlands using cross-sectional data from more than 900 households having multiple plots per household. We use modified random effects models, stochastic dominance analysis (SDA) and matching methods to ensure robustness. The parametric regression and SDA estimates are based on matched observations obtained from nearest neighbor matching using propensity score estimates. This is import...
Chapter 3 of "The Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Farms and Forests: Informing a system... more Chapter 3 of "The Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Farms and Forests: Informing a systematic approach to quantifying benefits of conservation programs."
Economic instruments offer the potential to reach pre-determined environmental goals at a lower a... more Economic instruments offer the potential to reach pre-determined environmental goals at a lower aggregate cost than less incentive-based measures, but administrative underpinnings crucial to the effective functioning of economic instruments may be lacking in developing countries. For this reason, pragmatic analysts and policymakers often advocate the use of so-called ‘mixed’ instruments that combine incentive mechanisms with improved administrative arrangements. This paper explores such possibilities with reference to intensive shrimp aquaculture, which dominates shrimp farming and is an important economic sector in Thailand. This activity has been cited as a major contributor to environmental degradation in Thailand and several other countries through destruction of mangrove forests, salinization of land, sludge disposal, and, in particular, water pollution. An analytical model is presented that highlights some of the key opportunities and limitations of mixed instruments applied t...
That wealthier developing country households may rely more heavily on child labor than poorer hou... more That wealthier developing country households may rely more heavily on child labor than poorer households has come to be known as the “wealth paradox.” This paper tests for a wealth paradox with regard to common natural resource wealth by analyzing the relationship between child labor and improved common property forest management (CPFM) in Bolivia. Data are analyzed using several econometric methods and it is found that households experiencing more effective CPFM generally use more forest-based and total child labor. The analysis also confirms others’ findings of a private wealth paradox with regard to private land and extends the analysis to evaluate the effect of ownership of animals.Classification-JEL: Q23, Q56
Using the travel cost method, this study estimates the per-trip value and total annual value of r... more Using the travel cost method, this study estimates the per-trip value and total annual value of recreational visits to Portland’s Forest Park. Based on the opportunity cost of visitors’ time and the estimated costs of travel, we derive a demand function for visits to Forest Park on the assumption that visitors value their trips to Forest Park at least as highly as the alternative uses of their time and money. The Portland Parks and Recreation Department supplied survey data for 2277 Forest Park visitors, of which we use 1626 observations. We find that a truncated negative binomial regression best fits the data. This regression indicates an average value per visit of $240 and an annual value of $31 million, though we note some limitations that may have biased this figure upwards. Additional results include a summary of visitor activities, durations and a profile of the socioeconomic statuses of Forest Park visitors. Finally, we recommend that future research implement a contingent va...
ABSTRACTThis paper analyzes behavioral change spurred by better common property forest management... more ABSTRACTThis paper analyzes behavioral change spurred by better common property forest management (CPFM), with a focus on on-farm tree planting. Results from our theoretical household model suggest that on-farm trees, which provide products that can substitute for those from common forests, should be stimulated by better CPFM systems. We test this finding using data from a household survey conducted in the Bolivian Andes in 2000. We find that better CPFM at its highest level of aggregation is positively correlated with more and higher quality on-farm trees. In terms of less aggregated indices, relatively few variables are significant, though two particularly important aspects of forest property rights – access clarity and the existence of formal penalties for overuse – actually reduce on-farm tree planting. We therefore conclude that in general synergies between individual CPFM components are most critical for behavioral change, but improvement of property rights aspects of CPFM may...
Traditional energy technologies and consumer products contribute to household well-being in diver... more Traditional energy technologies and consumer products contribute to household well-being in diverse ways but also often harm household air quality. We review the problem of household air pollution at a global scale, focusing particularly on the harmful effects of traditional cooking and heating. Drawing on the theory of household production, we illustrate the ambiguous relationship between household well-being and adoption of behaviors and technologies that reduce air pollution. We then review how the theory relates to the seemingly contradictory findings emerging from the literature on developing country household demand for clean fuels and stoves. In conclusion, we describe an economics research agenda to close the knowledge gaps so that policies and programs can be designed and evaluated to solve the global household air pollution problem.
Land degradation, in the form of soil erosion and nutrient depletion, threatens food security and... more Land degradation, in the form of soil erosion and nutrient depletion, threatens food security and the sustainability of agricultural production in many developing countries. Governments and development agencies have invested substantial resources in promoting soil conservation practices, in an effort to improve environmental conditions and reduce poverty. However, very limited rigorous empirical work has examined the economics of adopting soil conservation technology. This paper investigates the impact of stone bunds1 on crop production value per hectare in low and high rainfall areas of the Ethiopian highlands using cross-sectional data from more than 900 households having multiple plots per household. We use modified random effects models, stochastic dominance analysis (SDA) and matching methods to ensure robustness. The parametric regression and SDA estimates are based on matched observations obtained from nearest neighbor matching using propensity score estimates. This is import...
Chapter 3 of "The Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Farms and Forests: Informing a system... more Chapter 3 of "The Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Farms and Forests: Informing a systematic approach to quantifying benefits of conservation programs."
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