Deforestation and agricultural land degradation are major problems in developing countries. While they have attracted much attention, most analyses and policy recommendations examine them in isolation from their broader economic and policy setting. This path breaking and timely book takes an economy-wide approach to the analysis of developing-country resource degradation problems. The Open Economy and the Environment asks what globalization means for environmental quality and the use of natural resources in developing economies. The authors develop theoretical models that trace the effects of trade and trade liberalization on sectoral resource allocation, factor returns, income and welfare, as well as incentives to clear forest and degrade agricultural land. The models reflect important developing economy features including spatial distinctions between uplands and lowlands, open-access forest resources and the special features of domestic food markets. The authors also analyze representative economy submodels, explore empirical cases based on applied general equilibrium models of Asian economies, and examine welfare and environmental implications of migration, trade liberalization and development policy. Researchers and graduate educators in agricultural, development, environmental and international economics, will find the core subject matter of this book of great interest, as will economists specializing in Asian economies.

The countries of Southeast Asia display a great variety of development experiences. Its character is increasingly dominated by the region s ever-closer integration into the wider East Asian network of primary and secondary production and trade. A second striking feature of the Southeast Asia s development is the pace and extent of transformation of production and sources of household income.

This Handbook offers a timely and comprehensive overview of Southeast Asian economic development. Organized according to the logic of chronological and thematic unity, it is structured in these sections:

• Overview
• Precursors: a tightly focused economic history, providing necessary background to modern development analysis and debates
• The Miracle Years, 1987-1997: from the Plaza Accord to the bubble and bust of the Asian Crisis
• Consolidating gains and seeking sustainability: from the late 1990s to the present
• Southeast Asia in the Asian Century: identifying long-run and secular trends that will shape the region s future and addressing the most prominent challenges
• Conclusions: Economics, politics and long-run development

This original Handbook, written by experts in their fields, is unique in its breadth and depth of coverage. It provides a forward-looking perspective, which is likely to remain relevant for some time."

This Handbook offers a timely and comprehensive overview of Southeast Asian economic development.

This book studies land use change in tropical landscapes, with particular emphasis on the economic processes that influence rates of land degradation and forest clearing. Multidisciplinary contributions draw lessons from a rich, decade-long collection of economic, social and environmental data on the Manupali upland watershed in the southern Philippines. Through this detailed case study the book documents forces leading to land use changes, in particular the potential impacts of institutional evolution and policy reforms, and highlights interrelationships between biological, economic, and social phenomena.