RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Assessing the Role of Group Heterogeneity in Community Forest Concessions in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve
JF Land Economics
JO Land Econ
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 503
OP 526
DO 10.3368/le.93.3.503
VO 93
IS 3
A1 Fortmann, Lea
A1 Sohngen, Brent
A1 Southgate, Douglas
YR 2017
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/93/3/503.abstract
AB We use land use data from Guatemala to estimate the impact of a community forest concession policy on avoided deforestation when accounting for group heterogeneity. Our analysis includes communities with significant forestry experience, along with communities comprising recent settlers with primarily agricultural backgrounds. Employing a matched difference-in-differences approach, we compare deforestation in community concessions relative to a matched control area. We find the concession policy reduced deforestation throughout the study region, with the most significant effects in the recently settled concessions. While there is also evidence of leakage in this group, overall, there is a net reduction in deforestation. (JEL Q57)