Aid Against Trees? Evidence from a Community-Driven Development Program in the Philippines

Community-driven development (CDD) programs are becoming integral components in the portfolios of international development agencies, but little is known about the environmental effects stemming from such programs. Using satellite-generated forest coverage data, this paper applies a regression discontinuity design (RDD) and a randomized control trial (RCT) to a large-scale CDD program over two different time periods in the Philippines. Eligible municipalities in the RDD period experienced 220 percent more deforestation per year and treated municipalities in the RCT period experienced 126 percent more deforestation per year relative to the control. These results indicate that more focus should be placed on the sustainability of CDD programs