Economic changes and afforestation incentives in rural China

Abstract

This paper uses provincial macro-data from the mid 1980s onwards to investigate the determinants of land-use choice in rural China, by paying particularattention to the decision to plant trees as competing with agriculture. The evidence supports the importance of economic motivations in the afforestation decision. A profitseeking behavior is found to be at stake in the decision to plant trees, which is made according to both the relative profitability of forestry against agriculture, and their relative risks. Afforestation is also found to strongly depend on the pressure upon land as well ason household wealth.afforestation incentives; rural China