Do Tropical Forests Provide Natural Insurance? The Microeconomics of Non-Timber Forest Product Collection in the Brazilian Amazon

Tropical forests may contribute to the well-being of local people by providing a form of "natural insurance." We draw on microeconomic theory to conceptualize a model relating agricultural risks to collection of non-timber forest products. Forest collection trips are positively correlated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Land economics 2001-11, Vol.77 (4), p.595-612
Main Authors: Pattanayak, Subhrendu K., Sills, Erin O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Amazon
Amazon region
Biodiversity
Brazil
Environment
Environmental conditions
Farming
Forest conservation
Forest cover
Forest products
Forest resources
Forests
Household consumption
Households
Land economics
Natural resources
Parametric models
Rain forests
Rainforests
Rural communities
Studies
Sustainable agriculture
Tapajós National Forest
Timber
Tropical forests
Tropical rain forests
Tropical zones
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Summary:Tropical forests may contribute to the well-being of local people by providing a form of "natural insurance." We draw on microeconomic theory to conceptualize a model relating agricultural risks to collection of non-timber forest products. Forest collection trips are positively correlated with both agricultural shocks and expected agricultural risks in an event-count model of survey data from the Brazilian Amazon. This suggests that households rely on forests to mitigate agricultural risk. Forest product collection may be less important to households with other consumption-smoothing options, but its importance is not restricted to the poorest households.
ISSN:0023-7639
1543-8325
DOI:10.2307/3146943