The informal sector accounts for a very large share in African economies, both in terms of GDP and employment. However, most national surveys on the informal sector focus on labor market issues and informal employment rather than the structure of informal businesses. And sample designs are...

New agricultural technologies are promoted in developing countries to bring about some combination of economic, environmental, and or health benefit. All of these benefits are considered to improve the livelihoods of the households that adopt them. However, the adoption of these new innovations...

Land-clearing fires set by settlers in the Brazilian Amazon give rise to large scale wildfires that threaten mature forests, agricultural plantations, and settlement areas. Our purpose is to examine labor devoted to fire prevention (firebreak establishment) and burning for crop production for...

New Zealand experienced dramatic restructuring programsafter the Labor party won the national elections in 1984.Deregulation of price controls, removal of the log exportban, and privatization of public assets were the mainshocks to the forest sector. The purpose of this paper isto analyze the...

Physiological process models, productivity studies, andwildlife abundance studies all require accuraterepresentations of tree crowns. In the past, geometricshapes or flexible mathematical equations approximatinggeometric shapes were used to represent crown profiles.Crown profile of loblolly pine...

Documentation of Productivity and Efficiency Relationships for a Group of Southern Logging Contractors Michael J. Walter William B. Stuart, Chair (ABSTRACT) A case study examined contractor demographics, business characteristics, costs and production information from twenty-three tree-length...

A group of 22 independent southeastern U.S. logging contractors provided 44 contractor-years of detailed cost and production information. Information was collected on demographics, operational characteristics, and business strategies for the participants.Precipitation was statistically proven to...

The study examined contractor demographics, business and technological characteristics, costs, and production information for 15 independent logging firms in the Appalachians. Contractors represented nine states and were studied from 1995 to 1997. Each contractor's cost and production...

Federal and state income tax laws pertaining to forest landowners are examined. Income tax liabilities are calculated for hypothetical forest landowners in two income brackets across the 41 states in the U.S. which impose a comprehensive income tax. The income tax liability is calculated to...

A group of 35 loggers located across the southeastern United States provided 192 logger years of productivity and cost information. Information, including logger demographics, business, and operational data, was also collected through an interview process with the participants. Indicators of...