Title

Targeting Incentives to Reduce Habitat Fragmentation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2009

Publication Title

American Journal of Agricultural Economics

Department

Economics

Abstract

This article develops a theoretical model to analyze the spatial targeting of incentives for the restoration of forested landscapes when wildlife habitat can be enhanced by reducing fragmentation. The key theoretical result is that the marginal net benefits of increasing forest can be convex, in which case corner solutions—converting either none or all of the agricultural land in a section to forest—may be optimal. Corner solutions are directly linked to the spatial process determining habitat benefits and the regulator's incomplete information regarding landowner opportunity costs. We present findings from large-scale empirical landscape simulations that support our key theoretical results.

Volume

91

Issue

421080

pp.

1080-1096

ISSN

0002-9092

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