Diane Klerks ECON 4999 Paper Topic Proposal Intergenerational Equity and Logging: Is there an appropriate Discount rate? General concepts: Discounting or intergenerational equity, logging and the timber industry, and the economic as well as ecological, philosophical, and ethical implications. Who is saying what, what are the costs and/or benefits—a general analysis of the various arguments with a critical perspective. Puzzle: How do people actually look at sustainable logging? About future generations? What are the ethical issues associated with logging? Costs and benefits? What does an economist argue regarding discounting? Solutions? Economic stand point for discounting applied to logging. Non-economic: environmental, ethical, philosophical, perhaps psychological point of view for addressing the issue of non-sustainable logging. Though the resource is renewable, it is not being “renewed” at an appropriate rate; according to some sources. How would economists argue or support this? Logging is a major industry that is often considered problematic, from both an efficiency standpoint (is there a less costly way to approach logging, what is the efficient amount of logging and at what discount level is appropriate?), as well as an ethical view (will logging now harm future generations? Who considers future generations? What is said about the need to make logging techniques more sustainable?). Basically what do economists and other disciplinesI also plan to look at alternative techniques of logging: reduced impact logging, for example, as well as other suggestions made by both economists and non-economists. After acknowledging the different suggestions from various points of view it is necessary to critically analyze the given recommendations for intergenerational equity, or discounting. I also will ask and answer: are there externalities that need to be addressed when considering the optimal level of discounting for logging from society’s point of view and how these may or may not be considered ethically—for both the future as well as current generations. What are political implications of discounting for the timber industry? Research: Read already: Gonzalez, David. “Guatemalan Squatters Torching Park Forests”. NYT, 2000. (considering the future WRT logging) Bulte, Erwin, and Daan van Soest. “A Note on High Discount Rates and Depletion of Primary Forests”. Journal of Agriculture and Resoucse Economics. 21(2):341-350. 1996. ( high discount rates may not imply accelerated depletion of forests WRT Secondary v. Primary forests). Boltz, Frederick et al. “Financial returns under uncertainty for conventional and reduced- impact logging in permanent production forests of the Brazilian Amazon”. Environmental Economics, 39(3): 387-398, 2001. (reduced impact logging is more effective than conventional). Ashton, Peter, Theodore Panayotou. “Not by Timber Alone: Economics and Ecology for sustaining Tropical Forests”. Island Press, 1992. (Read some of it, there is a lot in this book). Boscolo, Marco and Jeffrey R. Vincent. “Promoting Better Logging Practices in Tropical Forests: A Simulation Analysis of Alternative Regulations”. Harvard Institute for International Development. Mass. Working Paper, 1998. (Concession agreements with private loggers, better logging practices). To be Read: “Can Sustainable management Save Tropical Forests?” Richard Rice, et al. Scientific American, 1997.“Correlates of delay-discount rates: Evidence from Tsimane' Amerindians of the Bolivian rain forest”. Kris N. Kirby et al. Journal of Economic Psychology 2002. Information from Gifford Pinchot: Chief forester of US Forest Service. Conservationist suggestions. “The Cost of Carbon retention by reduced impact logging”. Healey, John, Price and Tay. Forest Ecology and management, 2000. “Economic implications of intergenerational equity for biodiversity conservation”. Luca Tacconi and Jeff Bennett. Ecological Economics Journal, 1995. “Intergenerational Equity in Natural Resource Extraction: Rhetoric or Rationality?”. Tim Kowal. Philosophy Dept, UCI, JD candidate. Gillis and Depetto. Deforestation and Government Policy 1988; and Public Policy and the Misuse of Forest
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