Climate change mitigation policy in Ecuador: Effects of land-use competition and transaction costs

Daniel V. Ortega-Pacheco ^[1] ; Andrew G. Keeler ^[2] ; Shiguo Jiang ^[3]
1. [1] Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral
  
  Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral
  
  Guayaquil, Ecuador
2. [2] East Carolina University
  
  East Carolina University
  
  Township of Greenville, Estados Unidos
3. [3] University at Albany, State University of New York
  
  University at Albany, State University of New York
  
  City of Albany, Estados Unidos
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Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 81, 2019, págs. 302-310
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- This paper develops an econometric model to estimate the economic determinants of forest land conversion in Esmeraldas, Ecuador and evaluates the effect that transaction costs have on incentive-based climate change mitigation activities. Using a logistic share model, the results show a high extent of competition for the use of land between agricultural production for palm oil processing and land-based carbon mitigation through avoided emissions from deforestation. Our results show that the current policy of introducing conservation payments in Ecuador is not sufficient to significantly reduce deforestation, but that payment levels based on a plausible international carbon price would make an appreciable difference in the net sequestration contribution of forests in northern Ecuador. Knowledge generated from this research can inform site-specific land use policy design aimed at addressing the opportunity costs of tropical forest conservation as an important component of climate mitigation strategies.