Shifting Cultivation Expansion and Intensity of Production: The Open Economy Case

Abstract

This paper studies decision making in shifting cultivation, in particular labour inputs, length of rotation or fallow period (intensity of production), and the agricultural frontier (expansion). Analytical models are developed, combining forest rotation and spatial approaches in resource economics. The small, open economy assumption is used, that is, all prices, including the wage rate, are fixed in the models. This is crucial for the effects of various policies. Three different property rights regimes are discussed: Social planner's solution with secure rights to all forestland, open access, and homesteading, where property rights are established through forest clearance.