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Modelling land use, deforestation, and policy a hybrid optimisation-heterogeneous agent model with application to the Bolivian Amazon.pdf (1.51 MB)

Modelling land use, deforestation, and policy: a hybrid optimisation-heterogeneous agent model with application to the Bolivian Amazon

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posted on 2023-06-09, 05:15 authored by Lykke E Andersen, Ben Groom, Evan KillickEvan Killick, Juan Carlos Ledezma, Charles Palmer, Diana Weinhold
We introduce a hybrid simulation model (‘SimPachamama’) designed to explore the complex socio-environmen- tal trade-offs of alternative policy bundles and policy sequencing options for stemming deforestation and reduc- ing poverty in tropical countries. Designed and calibrated to the initial conditions of a small forest village in rural Bolivia, the model consists of: (a) an optimising agricultural household module of heterogeneous agents that make individually optimal land-use decisions based on factor endowments and market conditions; (b) an encompassing general equilibrium ‘shell’ module that endogenously determines wages and links the agricultural labour market and rural-urban migration rates; and (c) a novel user-controlled policy-maker module that allows the user to make ‘real time’ choices over a variety of public and environmental policies that in turn impact land use, welfare, and migration. Over a 20-year simulation period the results highlight trade-offs between reductions in deforestation and improvements in household welfare that can only be overcome either when international REDD payments are offered or when decentralized deforestation taxes are implemented. The sequencing of pol- icies plays a critical role in the determination of these results.

Funding

The REDD Game: A didactic tool for designing effective, efficient and equitable policies to deliver REDD in Bolivia; G0434; NERC-NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL; 1-SGE-U247

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Ecological Economics

ISSN

0921-8009

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

135

Page range

76-90

Department affiliated with

  • International Development Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-02-21

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-02-22

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-02-21

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