Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T06:39:04.804Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Household Production Analysis of Fuelwood Demand in Rhode Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

John MacKenzie  and
Thomas F. Weaver
John MacKenzie
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University of Delaware
Thomas F. Weaver
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics, University of Rhode Island
Get access

Abstract

A model analyzing household substitution of fuelwood for other heating fuels is needed to clarify the relationship between energy prices and patterns of forest resource utilization. This paper employs the household production methodology to model fuelwood demand in Rhode Island. Data from a cross-sectional survey of 515 households are employed to test a discrete-choice model of household participation in wood-burning and a four-equation system modeling household production of heat and aesthetic benefits from fuelwood and stove capital. Control of selection bias via inclusion of an appropriate instrument allows analysis of aggregate demands. Some broad policy prescriptions applicable to the Northeast generally are presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , April 1986 , pp. 53 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The authors are grateful for comments by Olasupo Ladipo, Steven Hastings and NJARE's anonymous reviewers. This paper is published with the approval of the University of Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station as AES Publication #2264, and with the approval of the University of Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station as Miscellaneous Paper #1105.

References

Amemiya, Takeshi 1973. Regression Analysis when the Dependent Variable is Truncated Normal. Econometrica 41(6):997–1016.Google Scholar
Amemiya, Takeshi 1974. Multivariate Regression and Simultaneous Equation Models when the Dependent Variables are Truncated Normal. Econometrica 42(6):999–1012.Google Scholar
Amemiya, Takeshi 1978. The Estimation of a Simultaneous Equation Generalized Probit Model. Econometrica 46(5):1193–1205.Google Scholar
Bailey, M.R. and Wheeling, P.R. 1980a,b,c Wood and Energy in Vermont, Wood and Energy in New Hampshire and Wood and Energy in Maine ERS Staff Reports AGES 820126, 820604 and 820817. Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Bailey, M.R. and Wheeling, P.R. and Lenz, M.I. 1982, 1983a,b Wood and Energy in Massachusetts, Wood and Energy in Connecticut and Wood and Energy in Rhode Island. ERS Staff Reports AGES 821028, 830118 and 830512, Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Barnett, W.A. 1977. Pollack and Wachter on the Household Production Function Approach. Journal of Political Economy 85:1073–1081.Google Scholar
Baughman, M. and Joskow, P. 1975. The Effects of Fuel Prices on Residential Applicance Choice in the United States. Land Economics 51(1):41–49.Google Scholar
Becker, Gary 1965. A Theory of the Allocation of Time. Economic Journal 75:493–517.Google Scholar
Criner, G.K. and Unterstein, R. 1983. An Analysis of Residential Wood Demand in Maine. ARE 362 Staff Paper, December, 1983. Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Univ. of Maine, Orono.Google Scholar
DFE (R.I. Division of Forest Environment) 1983. Highlights of Data. Mimeo distributed via R.I. Dept. of Environmental Management, Providence, R.I.Google Scholar
Hardie, Ian and Scodari, P. 1982. A Model of the Residential Demand for Fuelwood. Contribution #6382, Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD.Google Scholar
Hardie, Ian and Hassan, A.A. 1984. An Analysis of Residential Demand for Fuelwood in the United States. Staff Paper, Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD.Google Scholar
Heckman, James J. 1976. The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables, and a Simple Estimator for Such Models. Annals of Economic and Social Measure 5:475–492.Google Scholar
Heckman, James J. 1979. Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error. Econometrica 47:153–161.Google Scholar
Lancaster, Kelvin 1966. A New Approach to Consumer Theory. Journal of Political Economy 74(2):132–157.Google Scholar
Lee, L., Maddala, G.S. and Trost, R.P. 1980. Asymptotic Covariance Matrices of 2-Stage Tobit Methods for Simultaneous Equation Models with Selectivity. Econometrica 48(2):491–503.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, John 1985. The Residential Market for Fuelwood in Rhode Island: Demand, Supply and Policy Implications Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Resource Economics, Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.Google Scholar
Maddala, G.S. 1978. Econometrics McGraw Hill, New York.Google Scholar
McDonald, J.F. and Moffitt, R.A. 1980. The Uses of Tobit Analysis. Review of Economics and Statistics May, 1980 pp. 318–321.Google Scholar
McFadden, D. 1973. “Conditional Logit Analysis of Qualitative Choice Behavior” in Zarembka, , ed., Frontiers in Econometrics 1973, Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Millar, Scott 1984. Rhode Island Forest Resources Management Plan (Report # 45) R.I. Office of State Planning, Providence, RI.Google Scholar
Molzan, David E. 1983. Estimation of Household Demand for Fuelwood in Rhode Island , Dept. of Resource Economics, Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.Google Scholar
Otico, Jeffrey 1985. , Dept. of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Univ. of R.I., Kingston, RI.Google Scholar
Peters, J.R. and Bowers, T.M. 1977. Forest Statistics for Rhode Island. USDA Forest Service Resource Bulletin NE-49. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Pollack, R.A. and Wachter, M.L. 1975. The Relevance of the Household Production Function and its Implications for the Allocation of Time. Journal of Political Economy 83:255–277.Google Scholar
Pollack, R.A. and Wachter, M.L. 1977. Reply: Pollack and Wachter on the Household Production Function Approach. Journal of Political Economy 85:1083–1086.Google Scholar
Scodari, Paul and Hardie, Ian 1984. Heating Costs and Wood Stove Acquisition. Selected paper presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association meetings, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.Google Scholar
Slott, Michael 1982. Economic Aspects of Woodfuel Use in New York State. Agricultural Extension Research Paper 82-11, Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Stoddard, Wayne 1979. Estimation of a Demand Function for Household Firewood Usage in Rhode Island M.S. , Dept. of Resource Economics, Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.Google Scholar
Stoddard, Wayne, Weaver, T. and Tyrrell, T. 1979. Household Demand for Firewood in Rhode Island. Journal of the Northeast Agricultural Economics Council 8(1):21–23.Google Scholar
Taylor-Brown, Charles 1981. Patterns of Residential Fuelwood Use in New England. Paper presented to the Assoc. of American Geographers, April 20, 1981.Google Scholar