Working Paper: NBER ID: w22378
Authors: Seema Jayachandran; Joost de Laat; Eric F. Lambin; Charlotte Y. Stanton
Abstract: This paper evaluates a Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) program in western Uganda that offered forest-owning households cash payments if they conserved their forest. The program was implemented as a randomized trial in 121 villages, 60 of which received the program for two years. The PES program reduced deforestation and forest degradation: Tree cover, measured using high-resolution satellite imagery, declined by 2% to 5% in treatment villages compared to 7% to 10% in control villages during the study period. We find no evidence of shifting of tree-cutting to nearby land. We then use the estimated effect size and the "social cost of carbon" to value the delayed carbon dioxide emissions, and compare this benefit to the program's cost.
Keywords: Payments for Ecosystem Services; Deforestation; Randomized Controlled Trial; Carbon Emissions
JEL Codes: O10; O13; Q23; Q54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| PES program (H55) | reduced deforestation (Q23) |
| PES program (H55) | additional tree cover (Q23) |
| reduced deforestation (Q23) | forest conservation (Q23) |
| PES program (H55) | no evidence of leakage (Y50) |