The richer the country, the more attractive the market?

Jean-Marc Roda (), Noor Aini Zakaria, Lim Hin Fui (), Ismariah Ahmad and Rohana Abd Rahman ()
Additional contact information
Lim Hin Fui: Forest Research Institute Malaysia
Ismariah Ahmad: Forest Research Institute Malaysia
Rohana Abd Rahman: Forest Research Institute Malaysia

EAS Strategic Options, 2012, vol. 2012, issue 12, 14-15

Abstract: At a global level, forest products consumption appears to follow one of the most general empirical rules whereby the richest consumes the most. When applied to countries, the rule changes into the wealthier the nation, the higher the timber consumption. The macroeconomic data confirms such trend, where the volume of timber consumption of a given country is noticeably related to its Gross Domestic Product. Figure 1 illustrates this trend, with some dispersion explained by different cultures, habits of using wood, marketing, tastes and history in the various countries. Such observation, which matches the intuition, may be related to the common myth that economic development automatically comes from selling products with the highest added value; earning the highest income from exporting the most advanced or expensive products; or being the most competitive by producing the highest quality goods. This article discusses a more nuance approach, taking into account the different realities regarding tropical and temperate forest products.

Keywords: Malaysia; forest products; timber; market; export; industry furniture; high income; ecocertification; FLEGT; machines; mechanization; quality; standards; demand; policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://cirad-upr40-economics.000webhostapp.com/RePEc/epf/easopt/eas12.pdf (application/pdf)
http://www.frim.gov.my/v1/fif/pdf_file/FIFmarch2012.pdf#page=14 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:epf:easopt:201203

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Puan Rohana, EAS, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109 Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Access Statistics for this article

EAS Strategic Options is currently edited by Ismariah Ahmad

More articles in EAS Strategic Options from CIRAD, Forest department, UPR40 Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roda Jean-Marc ().