Rule of Law and Avoided Deforestation from Protected Areas
Ryan Abman
Ecological Economics, 2018, vol. 146, issue C, 282-289
Abstract:
Global efforts to protect biodiversity and slow deforestation rely heavily on the establishment of protected areas; land set aside that cannot be deforested or developed. This paper studies the macro-level relationship between rule of law and variation in avoided deforestation from protected areas. Using recent global satellite data from 2000 to 2012, I estimate the country-level avoided deforestation of protected areas established in this period via nearest-neighbor matching. I then use weighted least-squares regressions to explain country-level variation in estimated avoided deforestation as a function of a country’s governance characteristics as well as other country-level controls. Across 71 countries in this study period, protected areas were more effective in countries with higher levels of corruption control and protection of property rights, protected areas were more effective in more democratic countries, and there appears to be no relationship between political stability and avoided deforestation from protected areas.
Keywords: Deforestation; Protected areas; Corruption; Governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 O13 Q23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:146:y:2018:i:c:p:282-289
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.11.004
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