Local Effects of Payments for Ecosystem Services on Rural Poverty

Submitted by Marianela Arguello on

Using household surveys and spatial geographic data, we are able to control for socioeconomic and geographic characteristics at the individual and census-tract levels. Our results suggest that while payments did not affect poverty rates at the national level, poverty did increase in places where PES had the greatest effect on deforestation. This effect is stronger for uneducated males, who tend to work in agricultural activities.

Agriculture, Climate Change, Conservation, Forestry