The role of natural resources in fostering economic development is examined for key historical epochs, from the agricultural revolution in 8,000 BC to the present. Natural resource exploitation has been important to development for most of global history. Depending on which epoch is examined,...

This article provides a theoretical framework, based on optimal control theory, to analyze farm households' land-use intensification decisions in forest-based shifting cultivation (slash-and-burn) agroecosystems. The main results from the analysis generally coincide with the Population Pressure...

This paper presents economic rules for harvest timing when timber and nontimber goods, services, and ecological functions are produced from forest stands. Forests include stands that are heterogeneous in age, land quality, and distance to market. Rules for allocating land between forest and...

The link between agricultural pricing and land degradation is often difficult to analyze empirically. The authors'understanding of how agricultural supply responds to changing prices in developing countries is incomplete. Even more incomplete is the author's analysis of subsequent impacts on the...

Tropical deforestation is generally characterized as conversion of forest land to alternative uses, notably agriculture. This would suggest the need for rational decision making concerning the optimal allocation of tropical forest land between competing uses. The following paper explores this...