Because endangered species are in predator/prey, competitive, and other relationships with many species who share their habitat, efficient conservation requires simultaneously considering the needs of many species. Understanding ecological relationships and understanding how human activity...

We examine within-country time series data on income and concentrations of SO2 smoke, and particulates to see if the shapes of pollution-income relationships in individual countries agree qualitatively with predictions of the environmental Kuznets curve. The shapes of these relationships are...

The structure and occurrence of debt-for-nature swaps are examined empirically. Contracts executing debt-for-nature swaps are studied to assess the role of transaction costs in determining how these agreements are structured. The emerging contract form is a product of weak enforcement of legal...

Relationships between deforestation and population pressure, income growth, and insecure property rights are examined with data from 120 countries. Insecure property rights are hypothesized to arise from two sources: government instability or inability to enforce ownership and an absence of...

Historical accounts of forest cover changes over the last three millennia are compared to contemporaneous human history, to shed light on factors contributing to large scale changes in forest stocks. Insecure ownership, for example, during wartime and periods of unrest, tends to accompany...

Climate change is believed to be the root cause of the unprecedented mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak currently underway in the western United States. While climate change is undoubtedly a factor, changes in public forest management have resulted in more host trees in MPB habitat. We employ a...

Neoclassical economics, the dominant economics paradigm, has influenced and been influenced by developments in regulated industries. We identify major theoretical and empirical accomplishments, discuss the impact of these accomplishments on policy development, and list the channels through which...