Bringing local socioeconomic context to the analysis of forest owners’ management

Regional and local differences in public perceptions and attitudes towards forestry have often been explained by socio-demography, farming structure, living standard, and other socioeconomic attributes of different geographic locations. These attributes have been used much less to explain regional differences in private forest owners’ objectives and practices. We explore the connection between local patterns of non-industrial private owners’ management practices and the socioeconomic characteristics of the local context. Discriminant linear canonical analysis of data for 2406 owners in 26 rural areas in Portugal allows us to discuss the relevance of the socioeconomic features of local context, such as forest sector economy, agrarian structures, and broader socio-demographic dynamics, to understand the owners’ management practices. Our findings reveal the importance of the features considered, especially socio-demography and agrarian structures. However that importance differs according to the type of forest practice under consideration, i.e., harvesting or bush clearing. This study provides a better understanding of the factors that shape the management practices of forest owners and contributes to improve the design of forest policy to be more adjusted to regional context.     

The effectiveness of state preferential property tax programs in conserving forests: Comparisons,measurements, and challenges

Forest property taxes have been identified as one of the major driving forces behind forest loss and parcelization. Among various policy alternatives for reducing the burden of forest property taxes on landowners, preferential property tax programs have been widely used across states. Existing research has mostly focused on individual property tax programs, particularly those based on current use valuation, while little has been done to document, analyze and compare programs across states. By examining survey data from state preferential property tax program administrators across the United States, this paper describes the commonalities and differences among states regarding their preferential property tax programs, provides a preliminary understanding of the relationship between state preferential property tax policy and trends in private forest conditions, and identifies issues related to the effectiveness of state preferential property tax programs and private forest land management and conservation. Our analysis revealed three fundamental disconnects: (1) Program attributes that were previously considered to be important for preferential property tax programs to be effective in retaining forest land and fostering management did not consistently correlate with program effectiveness as viewed by the administrators of these programs; (2) These program attributes did not consistently correlate with actual program effectiveness as measured at the state level by forest trend indicators used in this study (i.e., change in private forest land cover, change in average size of private forest holdings, extent to which private forest land is being actively managed); and (3) The self-assessed program effectiveness did not consistently correlate with actual program effectiveness, either. The various ways in which the effectiveness of preferential property tax programs is defined and measured contribute to explaining these disconnects. It is particularly important for researchers and policy makers to be explicit about how they define and measure effectiveness and the scale on which they conduct their analysis before assessing and comparing programs or suggesting improvement strategies.     

浅析江西林权抵押贷款发展与对策

农村金融是农村经济的核心,林权制度改革离不开农村金融的支持。金融如何在林权制度改革中有效配置金融资源,加快林业发展是摆在我们面前的一个难题。本文以江西省为例,从金融的视角着重分析了林权抵押贷款发放中的制约因素,认为只有通过开拓创新,建立有效的创建多元化的融资模式、搭建稳健的风险防范机制、加强信贷管理,完善林业抵押贷款体系,才能促进林业和谐、可持续发展。     

林浆纸一体化形成原理及其市场投资方案

林纸浆一体化是个复杂的系统工程,其进程形成以纸养林、以林促纸、林浆纸结合的产业化新格局,整体上实现了经济效益、社会效益、生态效益的统一。由于宜林土地供应、行业政策、融资渠道、投资效益、速生林生长周期等诸要素的不确定性及国家林业项目管理模式的滞后性,使企业在实施林浆纸一体化规划时遇到很大阻力。本文通过分析林浆纸一体化的形成背景、形式陷阱和形成必然性,探讨了林浆纸一体化的构成原理及其运行机制的优化 （林浆纸一体化中浆纸企业循环经济产业链分析、林纸浆一体化发展中的价值评价模型、林浆纸一体化过程中物流外包价值分析）。同时通过建立林浆纸一体化与林产品市场的联系,设计出林浆纸一体化的市场投资方案,即为利用金融市场优化林业企业资本运作、完善融资政策确保林业企业投融资、构筑中间第三方组织完善土地资本市场。     

福州国家森林公园的客源市场分析

综述了旅游客源市场的有关理论及其意义,以福州国家森林公园为例,采用问卷调查法进行客源市场调查。在客源市场和数据资料分析的基础上,分析了森林公园的旅游客源现状特征,为其总体规划提供基础资料和科学依据。     

大小兴安岭国有林区经济转型与经济增长的关系分析

首先从经济发展、社会建设以及生态环境等方面对大小兴安岭国有林区经济转型现状进行分析;其次,参考由联合国可持续发展委员会、中国学者提出的可持续发展等指标体系,构建了经济转型与经济增长关系评价指标体系。采用格兰杰因果性检验方法,运用Eviews 6.0软件,对2000~2012年期间大小兴安岭国有林区经济转型与经济增长的关系进行检验。结果表明:在2000~2012年期间,大小兴安岭国有林区经济增长为林区的经济转型创造了发展的条件,经济增长是经济转型的充分不必要条件,二者存在着一定的因果关系。最后提出从自身和政府两个方面共同努力促进林区经济转型的建议。     

对世界和中国林产品贸易中比较优势的检验

为考察不同因素对世界和中国林产品贸易格局的影响程度，本文对基于要素禀赋的比较优势理论在世界和中国林产品贸易中的适用性做了检验。研究结果表明：除纸和纸板外，林产品总体、原木、其他原材、锯材、人造板以及木浆和回收纸的世界贸易流向均符合贸易的比较优势理论，环境变量对林产品贸易流向影响不显著，但并不能排除一国政府的环境政策对林产品贸易流向的影响。中国的林产品总体和各分类林产品均按照比较优势参与贸易，比较优势发挥着越来越重要的作用。本文的实证研究结果可以为制定我国林产品贸易政策提供参考和依据。     

Preferences over the timing of forest resource use

The objective of this study is to evaluate preferences for time paths of outputs arising from alternative forest management practices. A discrete choice framework using logit and mixed logit models is used to evaluate stated choices by Public Advisory Committee members over attributes regarding inter-temporal forest management options. Results of the study indicate a relatively strong preference for physical sustainability, or even flow choices. However, respondents appear to be more accepting of uneven flows in recreation services than they are of uneven flows of timber harvests. Results also provide yet another illustration of a difference in implied rates of discount over the goods involved (i. e. timber versus recreation). The paper illustrates a mechanism for use in public involvement exercises that may identify inter-temporal preferences over forest management plans and strategies.     

公共政策分析的基本理论及天保工程研究评述

对公共政策分析相关理论—公共政策、公共财政、新古典福利经济学、制度经济学和环境经济学理论的国内外文献进行了介绍与评述,并通过对天保政策公共性和天保工程有关理论和实证研究成果进行的评述,提出应从公共经济学角度分析天保工程,分析天保工程各相关利益主体(集团)的行为和目标,把中央政府作为保护天然林和改善生态环境的责任主体,将公共财政支持作为该工程最终目标有效实现的坚实保障。     

凤城市林业产业发展现状与对策

论述了风城市林业产业的的发展现状，分析存在的龙头企业少、资源破坏严重、经营水平不高等影响林业产业发展的问题，并提出发展凤城市林业产业要靠发展经济林保收，靠发展林下经济创收，靠发展红松果材兼用林补收，靠发展旅游业增收等具体措施，以促进当地林业产业的发展。