An Economic Analysis of Harvest Behavior: Integrating Forest and Ownership Characteristics

Publisher： Society of American Foresters

ISSN： 0015-749X

Source： Forest Science, Vol.35, Iss.4, 1989-12, pp. : 1088-1104

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Abstract

This study provides insight into the determinants of timber supply from private forests through development of both theoretical and empirical models of harvest behavior. A microeconomic model encompasses the multiple objective nature of private ownership by examining the harvest decision for landowners who derive utility from forest amenities and from income used for the consumption of other goods. Tobit analysis is used to estimate the relationship between harvest behavior and forest, owner, and economic characteristics from cross-sectional data for individual forest plots in New Hampshire. The empirical results highlight the influence of forest characteristics and landowner affluence on the harvest decision. Decomposition of the Tobit coefficients indicates that changes in timber supply are expected to result primarily from changes in the number of acres from which timber is offered for sale and to a much lesser extent from changes in per-acre harvesting intensity. Marginal supply responses varied considerably depending on the values for the other coefficients and variables, underscoring the need to consider the shape of the distribution as well as the mean values for the explanatory variables when projecting harvest behavior. For. Sci. 35(4): 1088-1104.