IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v115y2020ics1389934119304356.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal forest rotation under carbon pricing and forest damage risk

Author

Listed:
  • Ekholm, Tommi

Abstract

Forests have two notable economic roles in the future: providing renewable raw material and storing carbon to mitigate climate change. The pricing of forest carbon leads to longer rotation times and consequently larger carbon stocks, but also exposes landowners to a greater risk of forest damage. This paper investigates optimal forest rotation under carbon pricing and forest damage risk. I provide the first-order optimality conditions for this problem and illustrate the setting with numerical calculations representing boreal forests. Under the considered range of parametrizations, carbon price has far greater impact on the optimal rotation than the damage probability. Increasing forest carbon stocks through longer rotations is thus economically attractive option for mitigating climate change, despite the forest damage risk. Carbon pricing increases land expectation value and reduces the economic risks posed by disturbances. The production possibility frontier between harvests and carbon storage suggests that significantly larger forests carbon stocks are achievable, but implies lower harvests. However, forests' societally optimal role between these two activities is not yet clear-cut; but rests on the future development of relative prices between timber, carbon and other commodities dependent on land-use.

Suggested Citation

  • Ekholm, Tommi, 2020. "Optimal forest rotation under carbon pricing and forest damage risk," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:115:y:2020:i:c:s1389934119304356
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102131
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934119304356
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102131?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nordhaus, William D, 1991. "To Slow or Not to Slow: The Economics of the Greenhouse Effect," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(407), pages 920-937, July.
    2. Couture, Stéphane & Reynaud, Arnaud, 2011. "Forest management under fire risk when forest carbon sequestration has value," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2002-2011, September.
    3. Johnston, Craig M.T. & Withey, Patrick, 2017. "Managing Forests for Carbon and Timber: A Markov Decision Model of Uneven-aged Forest Management With Risk," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 31-39.
    4. Holtsmark, Bjart & Hoel, Michael & Holtsmark, Katinka, 2013. "Optimal harvest age considering multiple carbon pools – A comment," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 87-95.
    5. Xu, Ying & Amacher, Gregory S. & Sullivan, Jay, 2016. "Optimal forest management with sequential disturbances," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 106-122.
    6. Adam J. Daigneault & Mario J. Miranda & Brent Sohngen, 2010. "Optimal Forest Management with Carbon Sequestration Credits and Endogenous Fire Risk," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 86(1), pages 155-172.
    7. Pohjola, J. & Valsta, L., 2007. "Carbon credits and management of Scots pine and Norway spruce stands in Finland," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(7), pages 789-798, April.
    8. Brent Sohngen & Robert Mendelsohn, 2003. "An Optimal Control Model of Forest Carbon Sequestration," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(2), pages 448-457.
    9. Hoel, Michael & Holtsmark, Bjart & Holtsmark, Katinka, 2014. "Faustmann and the climate," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 192-210.
    10. Riikka Siljander & Tommi Ekholm, 2018. "Integrated scenario modelling of energy, greenhouse gas emissions and forestry," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 783-802, June.
    11. Susaeta, Andres & Chang, Sun Joseph & Carter, Douglas R. & Lal, Pankaj, 2014. "Economics of carbon sequestration under fluctuating economic environment, forest management and technological changes: An application to forest stands in the southern United States," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 47-64.
    12. Stéphane S. Couture & Arnaud A. Reynaud, 2011. "Forest management under fire risk when forest carbon sequestration has value," Post-Print hal-02651317, HAL.
    13. Roger Sedjo & Brent Sohngen, 2012. "Carbon Sequestration in Forests and Soils," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 127-144, August.
    14. Graeme Guthrie & Dinesh Kumareswaran, 2009. "Carbon Subsidies, Taxes and Optimal Forest Management," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(2), pages 275-293, June.
    15. Rupert Seidl & Dominik Thom & Markus Kautz & Dario Martin-Benito & Mikko Peltoniemi & Giorgio Vacchiano & Jan Wild & Davide Ascoli & Michal Petr & Juha Honkaniemi & Manfred J. Lexer & Volodymyr Trotsi, 2017. "Forest disturbances under climate change," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 7(6), pages 395-402, June.
    16. van Kooten, G. Cornelis & Johnston, Craig & Mokhtarzadeh, Fatemeh, 2019. "Carbon Uptake and Forest Management under Uncertainty: Why Natural Disturbance Matters," Journal of Forest Economics, now publishers, vol. 34(1-2), pages 159-185, August.
    17. Golub, Alla & Hertel, Thomas & Lee, Huey-Lin & Rose, Steven & Sohngen, Brent, 2009. "The opportunity cost of land use and the global potential for greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture and forestry," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 299-319, November.
    18. Ekholm, Tommi, 2018. "Climatic Cost-benefit Analysis Under Uncertainty and Learning on Climate Sensitivity and Damages," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 99-106.
    19. van 't Veld, Klaas & Plantinga, Andrew, 2005. "Carbon sequestration or abatement? The effect of rising carbon prices on the optimal portfolio of greenhouse-gas mitigation strategies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 59-81, July.
    20. Ekholm, Tommi, 2016. "Optimal forest rotation age under efficient climate change mitigation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 62-68.
    21. G. Cornelis van Kooten & Clark S. Binkley & Gregg Delcourt, 1995. "Effect of Carbon Taxes and Subsidies on Optimal Forest Rotation Age and Supply of Carbon Services," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(2), pages 365-374.
    22. Gregory S. Amacher & Arun S. Malik & Robert G. Haight, 2005. "Not Getting Burned: The Importance of Fire Prevention in Forest Management," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 81(2).
    23. Yin, Runsheng & Newman, David H., 1996. "The Effect of Catastrophic Risk on Forest Investment Decisions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 186-197, September.
    24. Reed, William J., 1984. "The effects of the risk of fire on the optimal rotation of a forest," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 180-190, June.
    25. K. Pingoud & A.-L. Perälä & A. Pussinen, 2001. "Carbon dynamics in wood products," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 91-111, June.
    26. Alice Favero & Robert Mendelsohn & Brent Sohngen, 2017. "Using forests for climate mitigation: sequester carbon or produce woody biomass?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 195-206, September.
    27. Robert S. Pindyck, 2017. "The Use and Misuse of Models for Climate Policy," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(1), pages 100-114.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gräfe, Sebastian & Eckelmann, Claus-Martin & Playfair, Maureen & Oatham, Mike P. & Pacheco, Ramon & Bremner, Quacy & Köhl, Michael, 2020. "Future crop tree release treatments in neotropical forests – an empirical study on the sensitivity of the economic profitability," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Patto, João V. & Rosa, Renato, 2022. "Adapting to frequent fires: Optimal forest management revisited," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    3. Yu, Zhihan & Ning, Zhuo & Chang, Wei-Yew & Chang, Sun Joseph & Yang, Hongqiang, 2023. "Optimal harvest decisions for the management of carbon sequestration forests under price uncertainty and risk preferences," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Félix Bastit & Marielle Brunette & Claire Montagne-Huck, 2021. "Earth, wind and fire: A multi-hazard risk review for natural disturbances in forests," Working Papers of BETA 2021-25, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    5. G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2023. "Determining optimal forest rotation ages and carbon offset credits: Accounting for post‐harvest carbon storehouses," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(2), pages 255-272, June.
    6. Susaeta, Andres & Carney, Tyler, 2023. "Optimal regimes of prescribed burning in forest plantations in the presence of risk of wildfires in the southeastern United States," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    7. Rossi, David & Kuusela, Olli-Pekka, 2023. "Carbon and Timber Management in Western Oregon under Tax-Financed Investments in Wildfire Risk Mitigation," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 48(2), May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tommi Ekholm, 2019. "Optimal forest rotation under carbon pricing and forest damage risk," Papers 1912.00269, arXiv.org.
    2. Ekholm, Tommi, 2016. "Optimal forest rotation age under efficient climate change mitigation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 62-68.
    3. Susaeta, Andres & Chang, Sun Joseph & Carter, Douglas R. & Lal, Pankaj, 2014. "Economics of carbon sequestration under fluctuating economic environment, forest management and technological changes: An application to forest stands in the southern United States," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 47-64.
    4. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Nghiem, Nhung, 2016. "Optimal forest rotation for carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation by farm income levels," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 185-194.
    5. Couture, Stéphane & Reynaud, Arnaud, 2011. "Forest management under fire risk when forest carbon sequestration has value," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2002-2011, September.
    6. Tommi Ekholm, 2015. "Optimal forest rotation age under efficient climate change mitigation," Papers 1505.05669, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2015.
    7. Patto, João V. & Rosa, Renato, 2022. "Adapting to frequent fires: Optimal forest management revisited," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. Hoel, Michael & Holtsmark, Bjart & Holtsmark, Katinka, 2014. "Faustmann and the climate," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 192-210.
    9. Yu, Zhihan & Ning, Zhuo & Chang, Wei-Yew & Chang, Sun Joseph & Yang, Hongqiang, 2023. "Optimal harvest decisions for the management of carbon sequestration forests under price uncertainty and risk preferences," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    10. Susaeta, Andres & Adams, Damian C. & Gonzalez-Benecke, Carlos, 2017. "Economic vulnerability of southern US slash pine forests to climate change," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 18-32.
    11. Zhou, Mo, 2015. "Adapting sustainable forest management to climate policy uncertainty: A conceptual framework," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 66-74.
    12. Bastit, Félix & Brunette, Marielle & Montagné-Huck, Claire, 2023. "Pests, wind and fire: A multi-hazard risk review for natural disturbances in forests," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    13. Luis Diaz-Balteiro & David Martell & Carlos Romero & Andrés Weintraub, 2014. "The optimal rotation of a flammable forest stand when both carbon sequestration and timber are valued: a multi-criteria approach," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 72(2), pages 375-387, June.
    14. Ning, Zhuo & Sun, Changyou, 2017. "Forest management with wildfire risk, prescribed burning and diverse carbon policies," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 95-102.
    15. Charles Sims & David Aadland & David Finnoff & James Powell, 2013. "How Ecosystem Service Provision Can Increase Forest Mortality from Insect Outbreaks," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(1), pages 154-176.
    16. Al Abri, Ibtisam H. & Grogan, Kelly A. & Daigneault, Adam, 2017. "Optimal Forest Fire Management with Applications to Florida," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258568, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Sohngen, Brent & Tian, Xiaohui, 2016. "Global climate change impacts on forests and markets," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 18-26.
    18. Dumollard, Gaspard, 2018. "Multiple-stand forest management under fire risk: Analytical characterization of stationary rotation ages and optimal carbon sequestration policy," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 146-154.
    19. Sohngen, Brent & Favero, Alice & Jin, Yufang & Huang, Yuhan, 2018. "Global cost estimates of forest climate mitigation with albedo: A new policy approach," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274307, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Lintunen, Jussi & Uusivuori, Jussi, 2014. "On The Economics of Forest Carbon: Renewable and Carbon Neutral But Not Emission Free," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 165755, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:115:y:2020:i:c:s1389934119304356. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.