Ecosystems and Human Health: The Local Benefits of Forest Cover in Indonesia

Teevrat Garg ()
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Teevrat Garg: University of California, San Diego

No 12683, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper documents the effect of primary forest cover loss on increased incidence of malaria. The evidence is consistent with an ecological response. I show that land use change, anti-malarial programs or migration cannot explain the effect of primary forest cover loss on increased malarial incidence. Falsification tests reveal that the effect is specific to malaria, with forest cover having no discernible effect on other diseases with a disease ecology different from that of malaria. Back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate that the morbidity-related malaria-reducing local benefits of primary forests are at least $1-$2 per hectare.

Keywords: deforestation; malaria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q20 Q53 Q56 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2019-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev, nep-env, nep-hea, nep-res and nep-sea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Published - published in: Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2019, 98, 102271

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