Rent capture and the feasibility of tropical forest management

This paper analyzes how the inefficiency of tropical timber royalty systems affects the feasibility of tropical forest management. It argues that distorted price signals from inefficient royalty systems give an unduly negative indication of the potential financial returns to forest management. The author estimates the discrepancy between royalties and resource rent in Malaysia during 1966-85, uses a benefit-cost framework to analyze the impacts of this discrepancy on the feasibility of tropical forest management. Finds that forest management is feasible in many cases even if nontimber benefits are excluded, as long as timber is valued by resource rent instead of royalties. -from Author

Duke Scholars

Author Jeffrey R. Vincent Environmental Sciences and Policy