Conference Agenda

This project studies the long-run effects of a colonial forest-governance institution- Forest Villages- in the country of India on contemporary development outcomes for forest-dwelling communities. Forest Villages were settlements established inside India’s reserved forests in the early twentieth century by the British colonial forest department to secure permanent labor for forestry operations and consolidate state control. Residents of Forest Villages had no legal rights and were entirely reliant on forest department permissions for cultivation, alternative employment, resource use, and basic services. Even after more than 75 years of independence, this institutional arrangement has persisted in India’s forest administration. Forest Villages remain outside the jurisdiction of revenue administration and the state channels through which rural infrastructure and welfare programs are delivered. Using archival sources, census and geospatial data for Forest Villages of Madhya Pradesh state and complementary spatial identification strategies, we provide preliminary evidence on how this historical institution mediates public service delivery and livelihoods of millions of forest-dwelling communities from 1991-2011.

Unilateral forest protection can result in cross-border leakage, raising concerns about its global effectiveness. We present a theoretical framework demonstrating that unilateral conservation may either be undermined by production shifts abroad or preserved when trading partners undertake even limited or asymmetric conservation efforts. Using a global region–year panel from 2001 to 2019 and a shift–share instrumental variable based on policy-induced import-demand shocks, we find that increases in timber exports driven by conservation-induced demand adjustments are linked to measurable reductions in forest cover in exporting regions, particularly in settings characterized by limited regulatory capacity. Combining domestic gains with estimated changes in these regions, we calculate that 42–45% of domestic forest recovery is offset through market adjustments. These findings suggest that unilateral conservation may experience leakage in a globally integrated economy, yet its net contribution remains positive, and broader cooperation—even if partial or uneven—can meaningfully enhance global conservation outcomes.

State decentralization is often promoted as a way to improve public service delivery. However, its effects on forests are ambiguous. Decentralization can improve local forest governance, but also change the incentives to promote agricultural expansion into forests. This study focuses on the power devolution stemming from the proliferation of new administrative units in Indonesia during the last two decades. Using a spatial boundary discontinuity design with 14,000 Indonesian villages, we analyze the effects of 115 district splits between 2002 and 2014. Results show a 35% deforestation decline at the border of new (child) districts relative to the existing (mother) districts both immediately before and after the district split. In pre-split years, we observe agricultural divestment by the mother districts on territories that are soon to be lost. In post-split years, the short-term forest conservation benefits are neither rooted in an increased social cohesion, nor stronger development. Instead, newly formed districts might suffer from temporary administrative incapacity to attract large-scale agricultural investments. In the long run, no lasting local forest conservation benefits persist as deforestation equalizes between child and mother districts a few years later.

Women have historically played a crucial role in forest development, yet persistent gender disparities limit their access to land and decision-making. In Mexico, while women constitute 50.5\% of the population in forested areas, only 26\% hold rights to agrarian nuclei property. Despite growing recognition of their effectiveness in resource management, their underrepresentation in land governance remains a challenge for sustainable development. This paper examines the impact of female participation in agrarian nuclei committees on deforestation rates in Mexico. Leveraging the 2016 Agrarian Law, which introduced gender quotas for candidate nominations, we employ a staggered event-study methodology to estimate the causal effect of increased female representation on forest conservation. Using data from agrarian nuclei with forest cover between 2012 and 2013, our findings reveal a significant 6\% reduction in annual deforestation rates, particularly in smaller agrarian nuclei. These results underscore the potential of gender-inclusive policies to enhance environmental sustainability. By contributing to the literature on gender quotas, forest governance, and sustainable land management, this study highlights the importance of strengthening women's role in decision-making processes to promote forest conservation.