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Government Preferences and Public Forest Harvesting: A Second‐Best Approach
Author(s) -
Amacher Gregory S.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1244447
Subject(s) - exploit , subsidy , revenue , public good , government (linguistics) , public economics , government revenue , tax revenue , business , natural resource economics , economics , public policy , finance , microeconomics , economic growth , market economy , linguistics , philosophy , computer security , computer science
Around the world governments own forest capital stocks and can harvest them for revenue or provide public goods from preserving them. This article examines how government preferences for revenue generation and public goods provision affect policy choices. Many instances are found where governments might exploit public forests at the expense of public goods. This is most likely when budget pressures are severe, or when the government prefers revenue generation to nontimber benefits provision. In particular, budget‐constrained governments are more likely to exploit public harvests to raise revenues and subsidize the forest sector, especially when revenues are increasing in public harvesting. Public harvesting should also influence tax choice. The results shed light on current forest policy debates and can be used to predict behavior of developed and developing country governments facing external pressures.