G. Cornelis van Kooten

Effect of Carbon Taxes and Subsidies on Optimal Forest Rotation Age and Supply of Carbon Services

Carbon taxes and subsidies will affect the optimal forest rotation and, consequently, the carbon stored in forests. Unlike the Hartman rotation, where externality benefits are a function of the volume of timber growing on a site at any time, carbon benefits are a function of the change in biomass. Theoretical and empirical results (for coastal British Columbia and northern Alberta) indicate that, under some tax regimes, it may be socially optimal never to harvest the trees. In general, inclusion of the external benefits from carbon uptake results in rotation ages only a bit longer than the financial (Faustmann) rotation age.

Private or self-regulation? A comparative study of forest certification choices in Canada, the United States and Germany

Forest certification is perhaps the best example of a voluntary governance structure for addressing environmental spillovers. Competing forest certification schemes have evolved. At the global level, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification focus on environmental processes and sustainable management of forestland, respectively. Regional/domestic schemes have been started by industry and/or landowners to compete with the FSC system. The main difference between FSC certification and the others is that the FSC relies on regulation by a non-state private regulator, while the others employ a form of self-regulation. In this study, survey data from firms in Canada, the United States and Germany are used to investigate factors that cause firms to prefer and/or choose a particular certification scheme. The findings indicate that market access is an important reason why forest firms certify, but it is an insufficient reason for them to pick the FSC system despite opinion polls that reveal a preference for FSC-style certification. Rather, firms prefer (participate in) FSC certification because they perceive it to confer environmental benefits, while those choosing another certification scheme do so on economic grounds. Finally, as companies become increasingly aware of their certification options, they are less likely to pursue FSC certification.

Mitigating climate change by planting trees : the transaction costs trap

Land-use change and forestry projects are considered a low-cost option for addressing climate change mitigation. In Canada, afforestation is targeted to sequester enough carbon to meet one-fifth of its international obligations, and at lower cost than emissions reduction. We examine economic aspects of the institutions and incentives needed to encourage landowners in Canada to adopt tree planting on a large scale. Based on data from a survey of landowners, the transaction costs of getting landowners to convert their land from agriculture to plantation forests appear to be a significant obstacle, possibly increasing the costs of afforestation projects beyond what conventional economic analysis suggests. (JEL Q25)

Mosaic of reform: forest policy in post-1978 China

With the start of economic reforms in 1978, Chinas forest sector was caught up in a whirlwind of change. It began with the devolution of forest tenures in rural areas, but led to reform of state-owned forest enterprises via introduction of stumpage fees and liberalized forest product prices. From the early 1990s to 1998, while China increasingly embraced the market economy, the nations natural forests continued to be depleted despite repeated emphasis on sustainable development. Then, in the wake of the 1998 floods in the Yangtze River basin, there was a shift in focus from timber production to environmental protection, with policy redirected toward the rehabilitation of damaged forest ecosystems, afforestation in desertified and degraded areas, and a ban on logging in natural forests. We provide an overview of the central themes of reform in Chinas forestry sector, identify the major factors that influenced policy formulation, and show that the outcomes of Chinas forest policy changes in the aggregate represent a paradigm shift.

Preference Uncertainty in Non-Market Valuation: A Fuzzy Approach

In this article, we consider uncertain preferences for non-market goods, but we move away from a probabilistic representation of uncertainty and propose the use of fuzzy contingent valuation. We assume that a decision maker never fully knows her own utility function and we treat utility as a fuzzy number. The methodology is illustrated using data on forest valuation in Sweden. Fuzzy contingent valuation provides estimates of resource value in the form of a fuzzy number and includes estimates obtained using a standard probabilistic approach. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.

Economics of Antipoaching Enforcement and the Ivory Trade Ban

A model of elephant conservation that includes illegal poaching, enforcement effort, and legal culling is used to analyze enforcement and elephant populations for alternative policies, with and without legal trade in ivory. Consistent with previous theoretical models, banning trade may increase or decrease equilibrium stocks. As an empirical application, information for Zambia, along with sensitivity analysis, are used to show that the ivory trade ban is more effective in conserving the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) than in permitting open trade. However, in all situations, current elephant populations likely exceed optimal levels as perceived by the range states, and further reductions in elephant numbers might be expected. Copyright 1999, Oxford University Press.

Economics of Forest Ecosystem Carbon Sinks: A Review

Carbon terrestrial sinks are seen as a low-cost alternative to fuel switching and reduced fossil fuel use for lowering atmospheric CO2. In this study, we review issues related to the use of terrestrial forestry activities to create CO2 offset credits. To gain a deeper understanding of the confusing empirical studies of forest projects to create carbon credits under Kyoto, we employ meta-regression analysis to analyze conditions under which forest activities generate CO2-emission reduction offsets at competitive ‘prices’. In particular, we examine 68 studies of the costs of creating carbon offsets using forestry. Baseline estimates of costs of sequestering carbon are some US

Potential to Sequester Carbon in Canadian Forests: Some Economic Considerations

3–

Metapopulation dynamics and stochastic bioeconomic modeling

280 per tCO2, indicating that the costs of creating CO2-emission offset credits through forestry activities vary wildly. Intensive plantations in the tropics could potentially yield positive benefits to society, but in Europe similar projects could cost as much as

Carbon sequestration and land management under uncertainty

195/tCO2. Indeed, Europe is the highest cost region, with costs in the range of