Application of household production theory to selected natural-resource problems in less-developed countries

Miscellaneous · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5474026

Mercer, D E

The objectives are threefold: (1) to perform an analytical survey of household production theory as it relates to natural-resource problems in less-developed countries, (2) to develop a household production model of fuelwood decision making, (3) to derive a theoretical framework for travel-cost demand studies of international nature tourism. The model of household fuelwood decision making provides a rich array of implications and predictions for empirical analysis. For example, it is shown that fuelwood and modern fuels may be either substitutes or complements depending on the interaction of the gross-substitution and income-expansion effects. Therefore, empirical analysis should precede adoption of any inter-fuel substitution policies such as subsidizing kerosene. The fuelwood model also provides a framework for analyzing the conditions and factors determining entry and exit by households into the wood-burning subpopulation, a key for designing optimal household energy policies in the Third World. The international nature tourism travel cost model predicts that the demand for nature tourism is an aggregate of the demand for the individual activities undertaken during the trip.

• Research Organization: Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5474026
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
TOURISM
DEMAND FACTORS
WOOD FUELS
DECISION MAKING
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FUELS
MANAGEMENT
290400* - Energy Planning & Policy- Energy Resources
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology