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Incentives, regulations, and sustainable land use in Costa Rica

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  • Ernst Lutz

Abstract

Deforestation in Costa Rica has proceeded at a rapid pace. Of the remaining 2,700 km 2 of virgin forests on privately-owned land, over 300 km 2 are being deforested each year. Pressure on National Parks, which cover about 27 percent of Costa Rica is likely to increase in the future. Preliminary information indicates that, contrary to our expectations, most of the deforestation at present is not being done by squatters, but driven by profit and asset maximization motives of the timber industry, banana companies, and large cattle ranchers. Setting aside 27 percent of the country's land as parks and reserves was a major policy decision. Aside from the removal of some “perverse” incentives operating inside park areas, the main issue there is one of sound management, including protection from intruders, strengthening enforcement, and controlled “tourism”. On the remaining primary and secondary forest areas on privately-owned land outside the parks, a key question is whether public interests connected with external costs of deforestation warrant public intervention. The paper suggests that a differentiated approach to this and other questions is needed, depending on the costs and benefits involved, and it discusses incentives and regulations which influence land use, and makes proposals for reforms. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1991

Suggested Citation

  • Ernst Lutz, 1991. "Incentives, regulations, and sustainable land use in Costa Rica," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 1(2), pages 179-194, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:1:y:1991:i:2:p:179-194
    DOI: 10.1007/BF00310017
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Abler, David G. & Rodriguez, Adrian G. & Shortle, James S., 1995. "Natural Resource Implications of Agricultural Trade Liberalization," 1994 Conference, August 22-29, 1994, Harare, Zimbabwe 183405, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Kohn, Robert E., 1999. "Thresholds and complementarities in an economic model of preserving and conserving biodiversity," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 151-172, June.
    3. Pfaff, Alexander S. P. & Kerr, Suzi & Hughes, R. Flint & Liu, Shuguang & Sanchez-Azofeifa, G. Arturo & Schimel, David & Tosi, Joseph & Watson, Vicente, 2000. "The Kyoto protocol and payments for tropical forest:: An interdisciplinary method for estimating carbon-offset supply and increasing the feasibility of a carbon market under the CDM," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 203-221, November.
    4. Goodland, Robert & Daly, Herman, 1996. "If tropical log export bans are so perverse, why are there so many?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 189-196, September.
    5. repec:ilo:ilowps:281143 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ernst Lutz, 1992. "Agricultural trade liberalization, price changes, and environmental effects," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(1), pages 79-89, January.
    7. Glomsrød, Solveig & Monge, Maria Dolores & Vennemo, Haakon, 1999. "Structural adjustment and deforestation in Nicaragua," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 19-43, February.
    8. Dessus, Sebastien & Bussolo, Maurizio, 1998. "Is There a Trade-off Between Trade Liberalization and Pollution Abatement?: A Computable General Equilibrium Assessment Applied to Costa Rica," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 11-31, February.
    9. Veldkamp, A. & Fresco, L.O., 1997. "Reconstructing land use drivers and their spatial scale dependence for Costa Rica (1973 and 1984)," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 19-43, September.
    10. J. Hartwick, 1992. "Deforestation and national accounting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(5), pages 513-521, September.

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