Rao V. Nagubadi

Determinants of Timberland Use by Ownership and Forest Type in Alabama and Georgia

Land use changes and timberland use by ownership and forest type in Alabama and Georgia between 1972 and 2000 are analyzed using a modified multinomial logit approach. Low average land quality, federal cost-share incentives, and favorable returns to forestry relative to agriculture were the main factors associated with timberland increase. Higher forestry returns helped increase industrial timberland but not nonindustrial private forests. An increase in hardwood forests at the expense of softwood and mixed forests was driven by increasing hardwood returns. Increasing softwood returns and tree planting assistance programs alleviated declines in softwood forests. Because factors influencing timberland use changes differ by ownership and forest type, treating all timberland as one major category may lead to incorrect predications.

Foreign Direct Investment Outflows in the Forest Products Industry: The Case of the United States and Japan

SUMMARY This paper investigates the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows from two major forest product importing countries: the U.S. and Japan. Exchange rate, per capita income, cost of capital, and cost of labour in host countries have significant impacts on the FDI outflows from these two countries. A complementary relationship is found between forest products exports and FDI outflows for the forest product importing countries. Market-seeking as well as resource-seeking motives for the FDI outflows from these countries are evident.

PRODUCTIVITY AND TRADE DURING THE SOFTWOOD LUMBER DISPUTE

The gap in total factor productivity in sawmills and wood preservation between the US and Canada generally increased from 1958 to 2005. The present paper examines the effects of the various phases of the softwood lumber dispute, including relatively free trade, Canadian export taxes, and low and high countervailing duties, on this productivity gap. Exogenous control variables include US housing demand, the exchange rate, softwood lumber prices, and ratios of capital and nonproduction labor to labor. The effects of phases of the dispute on US imports from Canada are also examined.