This study provides evidence on the effectiveness of community controls in regulating the use of common agricultural land in Côte d'Ivoire and tests for factors such as group size, ethnic and income heterogeneity of the group, income and resource stock levels, in explaining the variation in effectiveness across communities. The results indicate significant deterioration in community controls. These results point towards the need for a comprehensive policy framework towards agriculture in general and land tenure in particular. The study also finds that smaller and ethnically homogenous communities are better able to coordinate their actions, thereby internalizing a higher proportion of the value of land as a factor of agricultural production than their large ethnically heterogenous counterparts. No evidence is, however, found in favour of income heterogeneity hindering or facilitating collective action.

This study examines, in a developing-country context, the nature of the linkages between deforestation, land degradation and the movement of population from one region to another. While it is usually hypothesized that environmental degradation leads to stress migration from rural areas, changes in institutional arrangements and the subsequent regeneration of land and water may change the situation, decreasing the attractiveness of the option to migrate. Primary data from six villages in Rajasthan (a region in Western India) are used to set up alternative models using OLS, logit and 3SLS systems methods to test alternative forms of the hypotheses. It is found that the proper specification of group property rights, as a consequence of the existence of non-governmental organizations, does reduce migration. Further, a household's decisions to migrate and/or to participate in common property right creation are interrelated, being parts of its labour force allocation decisions. Other variables influencing household decisions to participate are levels of asset ownership, degree of dependence on common land and level of education.

The paper discusses valuation issues in the context of climate change impact estimation. Issues addressed are aggregation of damage costs over diverse regions (particularly equity-weighting), differentiation of per-unit values, willingness to pay versus willingness to accept compensation as a basis for valuation, and accountability for impacts. Numerical illustrations show that the damage cost estimates are quite sensitive to the assumptions made on these issues.

This paper investigates the potential for economic policies to influence environmental outcomes in low-income agriculture. The analysis focuses on how changes in agricultural prices influence land-use decisions and environmental indicators. Tree-planting decisions of low-income farmers in the Philippines are examined using a stochastic dynamic household model. Empirical analysis and dynamic simulations demonstrate that changes in relative prices and relative price risks are important determinants of tree-planting decisions. Results show that small holders are sensitive to risks associated with tree crops, but that price risk is not an insurmountable barrier to tree crop adoption. The relationship between cropping patterns and two environmental indicators - erosion and species diversity - are discussed.

Rates of time preference (RTPs) of rural households in Indonesia, Zambia and Ethiopia have been measured using hypothetical questions about preferences for current versus future consumption. In general, the rates were found to be very high. Factors influencing or correlated with the personal rates of time preference were investigated through regression methods. OLS was the technique used in the estimation. Market imperfections, particularly in credit and insurance markets lead to variation in RTPs. Poverty in assets, or cash liquidity constraints, was leading to or correlated with higher rates of time preference. The poor are, therefore, less likely to invest in environmental conservation. In Zambia, independent estimates of risk preferences were made. More risk-averse people tended to have lower RTPs. The results support the hypothesis that poverty and/or liquidity scarcity lead to high RTPs. Poverty reduction may thus reduce the RTPs of the poor and reduce the 'intertemporal externality' due to high RTPs. The high average RTPs indicate, however, that complementary policies may be needed to ensure sufficient levels of investment in conservation. Another logical implication is that institutionalization of private property rights may not be a sufficient tool to initiate sustainable resource management.

A contingent valuation method (CVM) survey to determine foreign and resident willingness to pay (WTP) for return visits to two different Costa Rican national parks was administered in 1995. WTP values were estimated for future entrance fees associated with proposed improvements to infrastructure and services in the Poas Volcano and the Manuel Antonio parks. Resulting logistic CVM models were statistically robust and mean WTP for entrance fees differed among the parks and were considerably higher than current fees. Results indicate that even in a developing country setting, the CVM is a useful tool to help determine park entrance fees in spite of the following methodological limitations which are recommended for further study: the need to include potential park visitors in survey samples; the lack of detailed information framing and contingent scenarios for park related WTP questions; and the threat of cultural-strategic biases when surveying residents of a developing country.