The Amazon continental shelf (ACS) has a coastline of ~ 1000 km and is situated in a humid equatorial region with two distinct seasons, wet and dry, and two transitional climatic periods. This seasonality strongly affects the discharges of the Amazon and Pará rivers, with their plumes extending...

Soil enzymes are the most potent bioactive components of forest ecosystems. They are involved in carbon and nutrient cycling, and the ratio of ligninase to cellulase activity can be used to effectively track changes in the soil carbon (C) pools for microbial assimilation. However, our...

Malaria ranks among the foremost health issues facing tropical countries. In this paper, we explore the determinants of cross-country differences in malaria morbidity, and examine the linkage between malaria and economic growth. Using a classification rule analysis, we confirm the dominant role...

Most recent cross-country analyses of economic growth have neglected the importance of physical geography. This paper reviews the distinctive development challenges faced by economies situated in tropical climates. Using geographic information system (GIS) mapping, the paper presents evidence...

Some cultural goods, like clothes and films, are consumed socially and are thus characterized by the same consumption network externalities as languages. At the same time, producers of new cultural goods in any one country draw on the stock of ideas generated by previous cultural production in...

The production of charcoal to meet cooking needs of urban households is one of the main causes of deforestation and degradation of Africa’s tropical forests, which offer significant carbon sequestration capacity to the global economy. In collaboration with a reputable local microfinance...

This briefing note presents some recent developments in satellite-based earth observation (EO) and how new and disruptive technology can improve understanding on tropical dry forests. It focuses on tools and algorithms developed by the Satellite Monitoring for Forest Management (SMFM) project...

After his escape from communist Romania in the late 1940s, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen used to describe himself as an “emigrant from a developing country”. Through his professional engagements with Vanderbilt University, he also came to visit many other parts of the developing world. One of...

This study evaluated changes in climate on tropical rainforest ecosystem in three Local Government Area of Rivers state, Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were administered randomly to 300 respondents. 89.7% affirms that they are aware of the change in climate, 10.3% were not aware. 33.6%...

Extreme weather induced by climate change can have major consequences for human health. In this study, I quantify the effect of tropical storm frequency and severity on mortality using objective meteorological data and the universe of vital statistics records from a large developing country,...

Extreme weather induced by climate change can have major consequences for human health. In this study, I quantify the effect of tropical storm frequency and severity on mortality using objective meteorological data and the universe of vital statistics records from a large developing country,...

I study the poverty impacts of the largest modern plantation-based agricultural expansion, Indonesian palm oil over the 2000s. Causal effects are identified by instrumenting the decadal expansion in the area planted with oil palm in each district with its agro-climatically attainable yield. Of...

Evidence-based policy making has been advocated as much, if not more, for developing as developed countries. However, very little attention has been given to the conditions or prerequisites for evidence-based policy making, and whether these are in general more or less likely to hold in...

A spatial econometric model is used to link road upgrading to forest clearing and biodiversity loss in the moist tropical forests of Bolivia, Cameroon, and Myanmar. Using 250-meter cells, the model estimates the relationship between the rate of forest clearing in a cell and its distance to the...

The tropical timber market is characterized by multiple species, multiple products, and regional patterns of trade and production. In such a market, finding a representative price is a difficult and perhaps an irrelevant task. So Varangis conducted tests to see whether prices from different...

Previous studies for developed countries show negative short-run impacts of automation on employment and earnings. In this paper, we instead examine whether automation by a key trading partner can hurt workers in a developing country. We specifically focus in Colombia's labor market, and how the...

"This book provides vital research on the association of environmental pollutants and global warming with viruses in tropical regions. It also explores the developments and trends in these areas of medicine and ecology, as well as prevention strategies to be used for educational and...