The first chapter of my dissertation Heterogeneous Local Spillovers from Protected Areas in Costa Rica (with Juan Robalino & Alexander Pfaff) offers a contribution to the literature estimating the impact of protected areas (PAs) on preventing tropical deforestation. It extends previous work by looking at how the establishment of national parks affects land use change in the neighboring private land. This is a relevant question as most analyses to date examine the realized deforestation impacts of PAs only within their borders, generally finding reduced deforestation effects. However, spillovers can significantly reduce or enhance net effects of land-use policies.
The second chapter Has forest certification reduced forest degradation in Sweden? (with Anna Nord´en & Jessica Coria) estimates the effects of the two major forest certification schemes in Sweden, FSC and PEFC, on environmental outcomes during the forest management for non-industrial forest owners. Forestry is a key economic activity in the Swedish economy, as 47% of its territory is covered by productive forests, and Sweden holds a top place within World leading exporting countries in the forest industry. At the same time, approximately half of its productive forest is certified and it has the largest total area of certified forest in Western Europe (UNECE/FAO, 2012).
