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Title: Insatiable demands: Income, energy and environmental policy in Madagascar

Abstract

The island nation of Madagascar is suffering the collision of three distinct trends: economic stagnation, a rapidly expanding population and a severely threatened natural resource base. Demands for growth, new energy reserves and environmental conservation, especially of forest resources, are creating a policy dilemma for both government officials and donors. This study seeks to bring new evidence to bear on this policy dilemma. Primary data on urban household income, family size and consumption of various energy types are used to test two main hypothesis (1) that charcoal, which constitutes the fuel of choice for a vast majority of the sample, is a normal rather than an inferior good, and (2) that demand for wood-fuels constitutes a genuine threat to the viability of the forest resource. The data indicate that income elasticities of demand for charcoal are positive over a broad range of per capita income levels, revealing that charcoal is, indeed a normal good for a large portion of the population represented by the sample. A model of forest degradation is built which establishes a clear link between wood-fuel demand and forest degradation. Together, these findings make clear that under current income patterns, and for the forseeable future, charcoal ismore » a normal good and its consumption by urban residents constitutes a serious threat to the natural forest resource. The study concludes with a policy analysis which identifies existing market failures due to government policies and recommends changes based on tested policy prescriptions in other parts of the developing world.« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
7023679
Resource Type:
Miscellaneous
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; CHARCOAL; SUPPLY AND DEMAND; MADAGASCAR; ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; GOVERNMENT POLICIES; WOOD FUELS; ENERGY POLICY; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; ADSORBENTS; AFRICA; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; ENERGY SOURCES; FUELS; ISLANDS; 290200* - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology

Citation Formats

Shaw, C L. Insatiable demands: Income, energy and environmental policy in Madagascar. United States: N. p., 1993. Web.
Shaw, C L. Insatiable demands: Income, energy and environmental policy in Madagascar. United States.
Shaw, C L. 1993. "Insatiable demands: Income, energy and environmental policy in Madagascar". United States.
@article{osti_7023679,
title = {Insatiable demands: Income, energy and environmental policy in Madagascar},
author = {Shaw, C L},
abstractNote = {The island nation of Madagascar is suffering the collision of three distinct trends: economic stagnation, a rapidly expanding population and a severely threatened natural resource base. Demands for growth, new energy reserves and environmental conservation, especially of forest resources, are creating a policy dilemma for both government officials and donors. This study seeks to bring new evidence to bear on this policy dilemma. Primary data on urban household income, family size and consumption of various energy types are used to test two main hypothesis (1) that charcoal, which constitutes the fuel of choice for a vast majority of the sample, is a normal rather than an inferior good, and (2) that demand for wood-fuels constitutes a genuine threat to the viability of the forest resource. The data indicate that income elasticities of demand for charcoal are positive over a broad range of per capita income levels, revealing that charcoal is, indeed a normal good for a large portion of the population represented by the sample. A model of forest degradation is built which establishes a clear link between wood-fuel demand and forest degradation. Together, these findings make clear that under current income patterns, and for the forseeable future, charcoal is a normal good and its consumption by urban residents constitutes a serious threat to the natural forest resource. The study concludes with a policy analysis which identifies existing market failures due to government policies and recommends changes based on tested policy prescriptions in other parts of the developing world.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7023679}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1993},
month = {Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1993}
}

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