Philippe Delacote

On the Sources of Consumer Boycotts Ineffectiveness

This article investigates weaknesses of consumer boycotts. First, usual shortcomings of collective action, such as coordination failure and free riding, reduce considerably the success likelihood. Second, consumers with the highest ability to hurt the targeted firm’s profit also have the highest opportunity cost of boycotting. Thus, they are less likely to participate in the boycott. Conversely, the most involved consumers have high environmental preferences and small amounts of consumption, which prevent them from hurting the firm’s profit enough.

Accounting for Active Management and Risk Attitude in Forest Sector Models

Given the importance of anthropogenic determinants in forest ecosystems within Europe, the objective of this paper is to link the evidence arising from biological models to socio-economic determinants, where the expected returns of forest investments represent the main driver. A micro-economic area allocation module is therefore coupled with an inventory-based forest dynamics module and a partial-equilibrium market module in a national-level forest sector model for France (FFSM++). Running long-term scenarios (until 2100), we show the implication of an active management policy on forest composition: when the most profitable option drives forest investments, coniferous forests are generally preferred over broadleaved ones. This result is, however, reappraised when the risk aversion of forest owners is explicitly considered in the model, given the higher risk associated with the former. We further show the strong stability of forest ecosystems that, due to the very long cycles, undergoes very small variations in volume stocks, even in scenarios where the initial forest regeneration is strongly influenced.

Fuelwood Consumption, Restrictions about Resource Availability and Public Policies: Impacts on the French Forest Sector

In the context of climate change and of increasing energy prices, the share of fuelwood in primary energy consumption may increase, especially in countries with large forest endowments. However, larger fuelwood consumption may have non-negligible impacts on forest sectors. This paper assesses those impacts for France using a new model of the French forest sector, and comparing four different policy options to boost fuelwood demand. First, supply- and demand-side policies yield very different outcomes, with a trade-off between trade balance and harvest intensity. Second, even a modest increase in fuelwood consumption leads to tensions over forest stock over time under pessimistic views about resource availability.

Systemic Corruption, Scale Effects and Forest Harvesting

This paper explores the influence of scale effects and corruption on forest harvesting. Policy-maker and bureaucratic corruption are considered sequentially. Overall, the corrupt policy maker chooses a less stringent forest policy. Moreover, this permissive forest policy partly enhances bureaucratic corruption. This paper therefore partially supports the idea of systemic corruption. Finally, it appears that a larger number of lobbying firms tends to increase this effect.

The Safety-net Use of Non Timber Forest Products

Incompleteness of insurance markets is a crucial weakness of developing countries. In this context, the poor households of rural regions often exploit common property resources, such as forests, as insurance in case of economics stress. The aim of this paper is to derive the implications of this insurance use on the forest cover, and thus on deforestation. The land-use choice between agricultural land and forest therefore resembles a portfolio diversification. However, I also show that this insurance strategy may lead to resource overexploitation and constitute a poverty trap.

The Environmental Resource Curse Hypothesis: The Forest Case

The resource curse hypothesis relies on the resource-rich countries tendency to grow slower than resource-poor countries. Focusing on forest issues, this paper extends the resource curse hypothesis to environmental degradation: how do forest endowment and forest harvesting affect deforestation? Our empirical results show that countries with important forest cover and forestry sectors seem to deforest more than others, which supports the hypothesis of an environmental resource curse. Moreover, countries implied in important timber certification processes have lower deforestation levels.

Forest Products as Safety Net, Deforestation and the Tragedy of the Commons

Non-timber forest product (NTFP) are commonly used by poor agricultural house-holds of developing countries to smooth their consumption and to cope with agricultural risk. This paper explores the potential implications of this safety-net use on the land-use choice and labor allocation. We consider that the land-use is a long-run choice variable, while labor allocation is a short-term choice variable. In this context, it appears that risk reduction may have two opposite implications. In the short run, risk reduction tends to reduce the pressure on common resource extraction, while in the long run, risk reduction may tend to increase deforestation.

Rentabilidade Econômica do Arrendamento de Terra para Cultivo de Eucalipto em São Paulo

The present study aimed to analyze the leasing of land for the cultivation of eucalyptus in Vale do Paraiba, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. We used information from 10 properties, eight landowners, a pulp and paper company, and an investor in forestry assets. The economic tools used were the Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Land Expectation Value (LEV). Considering a minimum attractiveness rate of 8.75%, the cultivation of eucalyptus with investment in land in the study area was economically viable for only five of the properties analyzed. With the guarantee of productivity established in the contract, the investment was feasible for land lease, but uneconomical for the investor. Ensuring productivity was important to maintain economic viability for the investor and the lessee, considering that without productivity assurance only three properties showed economic viability for land lease.

Rentabilidade Econômica do Arrendamento de Terra para Cultivo de Eucalipto em São Paulo / Economic Profitability of Land Lease for Eucalyptus Cultivation in Sao Paulo State, Brazil

The present study aimed to analyze the leasing of land for the cultivation of eucalyptus in Vale do Paraiba, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. We used information from 10 properties, eight landowners, a pulp and paper company, and an investor in forestry assets. The economic tools used were the Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Land Expectation Value (LEV). Considering a minimum attractiveness rate of 8.75%, the cultivation of eucalyptus with investment in land in the study area was economically viable for only five of the properties analyzed. With the guarantee of productivity established in the contract, the investment was feasible for land lease, but uneconomical for the investor. Ensuring productivity was important to maintain economic viability for the investor and the lessee, considering that without productivity assurance only three properties showed economic viability for land lease.