CIRSS vertical data integration, San Bernardino study

The creation and use of a vertically integrated data base, including LANDSAT data, for local planning purposes in a portion of San Bernardino County, California are described. The project illustrates that a vertically integrated approach can benefit local users, can be used to identify and rectify discrepancies in various data sources, and that the LANDSAT component can be effectively used to identify change, perform initial capability/suitability modeling, update existing data, and refine existing data in a geographic information system. Local analyses were developed which produced data of value to planners in the San Bernardino County Planning Department and the San Bernardino National Forest staff

Can Indonesia benefit from log export barriers?

We use a simple model of sequential duopoly to examine the effect of different industrial structures on firms' output decision and profit shares in the international market for raw and processed tropical timber products. The model provides insights that can be applied to the Indonesian logging and plywood industry: shedding light on the appropriate policy responses. Whether optimal trade policy in each industry involves a tax or subsidy depends on the ownership structure and on the comparative profit margins from upstream and downstream exports. Log barriers may improve welfare even if the downstream sector is inefficient. When the industry is vertically separated, this is true regardless of the comparative profit margins. However, when the industry is vertically integrated (which is the case of Indonesia), this is only true when the downstream sector is more profitable at the margin

An Evaluation of Canadian and U.S. Policies of Log and Lumber Markets

The recent lumber trade war between Canada and the United States deals with Canadian stumpage policies, Canada’s log export controls, and U.S. retaliatory duty. This study determines the appropriate level of U.S. countervailing duty (CVD) by employing a vertically interrelated log–lumber model. The theoretical results show that the U.S. CVD can be greater (will be less) than the Canadian subsidy for a vertically related log–lumbermarket (for lumber market only). Empirical results support the theoretical findings in that the U.S. CVD for the log–lumber market (lumber market alone) is 1.55 (0.91) times the Canadian subsidy.countervailing duty, dispute, log, lumber, subsidy, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy, F13,

GRASS ROOTS FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT: IS THIS DEVOLUTION REALLY THE SOLUTION?

Land Economics/Use,

Institutional thickening and innovation: reflections on the remapping of the Great Bear Rainforest

The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2016 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) As a response to forest conflict, contemporary remapping refers to re-evaluations of resource values, new and diverse forms of governance among stakeholders, and compromises within patterns of land use that give greater emphasis to environmental and cultural priorities. This paper elaborates the processes of remapping by examining the role of institutional innovation in conflict resolution, with particular reference to the iconic Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. After years of conflict and protest, peace in the Great Bear Rainforest was heralded by an interim agreement in 2006, with final ratification likely in 2016. Conceptually, a four-legged stakeholder model identifies the main institutional interests and their interactions through learning and bargaining. New forms of governance were created to bring the stakeholders together in constructive dialogue and then to reach and implement acceptable bargains. Analytically, the paper examines how this agreement has worked in practice by reflecting on the emergence of novel institutions that integrate the interests of key stakeholders. The discussion identifies six bilateral negotiations between: industrial and environmental interests; federal and provincial governments and aboriginal peoples; government and environmental interests; government and industry; industry and aboriginal peoples; and environmental groups and local communities. The remapping process has produced a thickening architecture of institutions that remain experimental even as they seek to promote sustainability, resilience and legitimacy

A DYNAMIC MODEL OF VERTICAL INTEGRATION FOR THE AMERICAN PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY

The focus of this research is to learn about the factors that influence the decision of a manufacturing firm to vertically integrate into the production of its input. The American paper industry has a feature that makes it particularly suitable for this purpose: over the years paper mills of apparently similar characteristics have made different decisions with regards to their integration status. This work draws on the insight that there must be some unobserved mill characteristic that drives the decision process for a mill. Mills´ choices of whether to exit the industry, and with regards to their integration status when they choose to stay in operation, depend on their productivity. This generates selection and simultaneity biases in a reduced form estimation. In order to deal with these issues, I propose a dynamic model in the spirit of Olley and Pakes (1996). This approach not only takes care of the estimation biases, but also allows me to learn about the unobserved characteristics of the firms in my data, and to use them to determine which firms vertically integrate and which firms do not. In addition, the model I propose allows me to learn about how vertical integration affects productivity and mill´s entry and exit decisions.Vertical Integration

Inventory of available data elements for the San Bernardino, California region

Elements of data sets that are available to be integrated for the San Bernardino vertical data integration project are given. Each of the data sets has specified for it the ownership, validity, accuracy and technical requirements for integration

Are the Economics of a Sustainable Maine Forest Sustainable?

Mike LeVert, Charles Colgan and Charles Lawton discuss the transformation of the economic environment of Maine’s forests over the past two decades. Paper companies have sold most of their holdings; residential and conservation demand for land has increased; forestland prices have skyrocketed; and new classes of landowners have different strategies, objectives, and time horizons than the old industrial landowners. The authors believe that management of Maine’s forests must now address changes in the economic environment with the same intensity as threats such as the spruce budworm were addressed if we are to keep Maine’s forests as forests

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF AGRICULTURE AND AG-RELATED INDUSTRIES ON THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development,