An overview of theoretical and empirical studies on deforestation

Abstract

Deforestation is one of the critical issues in our global climate change era. It leads to two important environmental challenges, loss of biodiversity and increase of greenhouse gas emission. Many efforts have been introduced, developed, and implemented. However, a declining forest cover still presents. Since deforestation is a complex and intertwined issue, understanding its complexity and the context in which it is debated is crucial. This paper aims at discussing some grand theories of deforestation, especially from an economic perspective. The discussion covers the proximate-underlying causes of deforestation, the EnvironmentalKuznets Curve for deforestation theory, the forest transition theory, and the land rent theory. For each, this paper elaborates their original notion, basic idea, empirical studies, and policy derivation. Finally, comparable similarities and dissimilarities and their future extend are reviewed.

Keywords: Deforestation, proximate and underlying causes, Environmental Kuznets Curve for deforestation, forest transition, land rent