The effect of forest access on the market for fuelwood in India

Branko Bošković, Ujjayant Chakravorty, Martino Pelli and Anna Risch

Journal of Development Economics, 2023, vol. 160, issue C

Abstract: Fuelwood collection by poor people is often cited as the most important cause of deforestation in developing countries. Using household survey data from India, we show that households located farther away from the forest spend more time in fuelwood collection. These households are likely to sell more fuelwood and buy less. That is, reduced access to forests increases fuelwood collection and sale. This counter-intuitive behavior is triggered by the higher fixed costs of households living farther from the forest arising from larger travel times. By combining two different datasets, we can quantify net fuelwood sales out of a village. We show that a fifth of the fuelwood collected is consumed outside of rural areas, in nearby towns and cities. Our estimates suggest that fuelwood burning may account for roughly 14%–20% of the typical daily PM2.5 load in a city like New Delhi.

Keywords: Energy access; Cooking fuels; Deforestation; Forest cover; Fuelwood collection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 O13 Q2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The effect of forest access on the market for fuelwood in India (2023)
Working Paper: The effect of forest access on the market for fuelwood in India (2023)
Working Paper: The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India (2019)
Working Paper: The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India (2018)
Working Paper: The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India (2018)
Working Paper: The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India (2018)
Working Paper: The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India (2018)
Working Paper: The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India (2018)
Working Paper: The E ect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:160:y:2023:i:c:s0304387822001018

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102956

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