Research on Poverty Issues in Areas Rich in Forest Resources

Author: Li Zhou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: In China, a portion of the impoverished population is still concentrated in areas rich in forest resources. Generally speaking, resource scarcity may contribute to poverty, but why does poverty also occur in resource-rich regions? Why does the comparative advantage of abundant natural resources not bring more economic opportunities to local development? Why does this phenomenon of "poverty in abundance" occur? This book starts from this phenomenon, combining six typical case analyses to explore the relationship between forest resource endowments and economic development. Based on clarifying the causes of poverty, it applies correlation and regression analysis methods from development economics and resource economics, using multivariate statistical methods, to quantitatively study the relationship between forest resources and economic development. It argues the role and status of forest resources in current economic development and proposes policy recommendations to address poverty in such regions. The main conclusions include: (1) As the economy develops, the contribution of forest resources to economic growth tends to decline; (2) the advantage of forest resource endowments gradually shifts to the advantage of technology; (3) the concentration of poverty in forest-rich areas is higher than in forest-poor areas.