Browsing by Author "Fisher, Monica M."

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  • Activity choice, labor allocation, and forest use in Malawi
    Fisher, Monica M.; Shively, Gerald E.; Buccola, Steven (2005)
    We examine the determinants of activity choice affecting forest use among low-income
  • Can income programs reduce tropical forest pressure? Income shocks and forest use in Malawi
    Fisher, Monica M.; Shively, Gerald E. (2005)
    Seasonal household data from Malawi are used to study links between income shocks and forest use. A Tobit model is estimated to examine whether household forest use responds to receipt of a positive income shock (delivered as a technology assistance package), and the characteristics of households reliant on forests for shock coping. Results show households experiencing an income boost had lower forest extraction compared to households that did not receive such a shock, ceteris paribus. We find households most dependent on forests for natural insurance are those located near woodlands and headed by an individual who is relatively young and male.
  • Smallholder labor and deforestation: A systems approach
    Shively, Gerald E.; Fisher, Monica M. (2004)
    The study examined the links between labor market opportunities and deforestation by jointly estimating a system of labor share equations for forest clearing, on-farm production, and off-farm employment. Findings reveal strong price effects in labor-allocation decisions. The negative cross-price term for off-farm returns in the forest clearing equation indicates that labor can be drawn away from the forest through price incentives in the off-farm sector, consistent with patterns observed in Nepal, Malawi, and elsewhere in the Philippines. The results also show that tenure security and current levels of borrowing are negatively correlated with the forest labor share. These findings suggest policies to reduce deforestation should focus on increasing returns to off-farm employment, strengthening rural credit markets, and ensuring farmers have secure tenure over existing agricultural land.