Journal of Forest Economics > Vol 10 > Issue 4

Economic impacts of closing national forests for commercial timber production in Florida and Liberty County

Jian Zhang, Janaki R.R. Alavalapati, janaki@ifas.ufl.edu , Ram K. Shrestha, Alan W. Hodges
 
Suggested Citation
Jian Zhang, Janaki R.R. Alavalapati, Ram K. Shrestha and Alan W. Hodges (2005), "Economic impacts of closing national forests for commercial timber production in Florida and Liberty County", Journal of Forest Economics: Vol. 10: No. 4, pp 207-223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfe.2004.09.002

Publication Date: 25 Feb 2005
© 0 2005 Jian Zhang, Janaki R.R. Alavalapati, Ram K. Shrestha, Alan W. Hodges
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
JEL Codes:C68D58L78Q23
Computable general equilibrium modelCommercial timber harvestRegional economic impactsUS national forest
 

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In this article:
Introduction 
Model specification 
Model results and discussion 
Summary and conclusions 

Abstract

The paper assesses the impacts of a proposed policy, which suggests a ban on commercial timber harvest in the US national forests. Specifically, this study examines the effect of this policy on a small forest dependent county (Liberty County) in Florida and Florida State by applying a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The results indicate that the proposed policy would decrease overall economic output by $5 million in Liberty County. The decrease in economic output at the state level in response to this policy is only $1 million. Results suggest that the welfare index in response to the proposed policy will drop by 2.9% in Liberty County while the change at the state level is negligible. At the county level, where limited alternate opportunities for labor and capital mobility, the negative effect of the proposed policy is shown to have a multiplying effect.

DOI:10.1016/j.jfe.2004.09.002