View in EDS

The Road to Growth: Measuring the Tradeoffs between Economic Growth and Ecological Destruction.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Road to Growth: Measuring the Tradeoffs between Economic Growth and Ecological Destruction.
Authors: Damania, Richard1, Russ, Jason1, Barra, Alvaro Federico1, Wheeler, David2
Source: World Development. Jan2018, Vol. 101, p351-376. 26p.
Subject Terms: *Economic development, *Biodiversity, Infrastructure (Economics), Forests & forestry
Geographic Terms: Congo (Democratic Republic)
Abstract: Summary Roads bring significant economic benefits that are vital for development. But they are often also the precursors to deforestation and other adverse environmental impacts. This paper examines the road-induced tradeoffs between economic growth, deforestation, and biodiversity loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Decades of conflict have left the DRC’s transport infrastructure among the sparsest and most dilapidated in the world. Most of the provincial capitals are unconnected to the capital city, and improving road connectivity could lead to a significant boost in trade and economic growth. At the same time the DRC is also home to the second largest rainforest in the world. The iconic Congo forests are a trove of ecological value—some monetizable and most that is not. So the destruction of the DRC’s forests will have significant environmental ramifications. We provide empirical estimates of the economic benefits of improving market access and reducing transportation costs. We then estimate a forest destruction function to assess the impact that new or improved roads have on forest clearing. In addition, a novel biodiversity index is developed to identify forests of high biodiversity significance. Two simulations are performed to quantitatively demonstrate the impacts of road improvement projects in terms of increased GDP, forest loss, and biodiversity that are put at risk. To our knowledge, this is the first study to jointly examine the economic benefits and ecological risks to infrastructure investments. It is envisioned that the methods employed here can be used to guide future infrastructure investments toward designs which have a large economic impact while minimizing ecological risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of World Development is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 125788231
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: The Road to Growth: Measuring the Tradeoffs between Economic Growth and Ecological Destruction.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Damania%2C+Richard%22">Damania, Richard</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Russ%2C+Jason%22">Russ, Jason</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Barra%2C+Alvaro+Federico%22">Barra, Alvaro Federico</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Wheeler%2C+David%22">Wheeler, David</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22World+Development%22">World Development</searchLink>. Jan2018, Vol. 101, p351-376. 26p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Economic+development%22">Economic development</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Biodiversity%22">Biodiversity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Infrastructure+%28Economics%29%22">Infrastructure (Economics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Forests+%26+forestry%22">Forests & forestry</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectGeographic
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Congo+%28Democratic+Republic%29%22">Congo (Democratic Republic)</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Summary Roads bring significant economic benefits that are vital for development. But they are often also the precursors to deforestation and other adverse environmental impacts. This paper examines the road-induced tradeoffs between economic growth, deforestation, and biodiversity loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Decades of conflict have left the DRC’s transport infrastructure among the sparsest and most dilapidated in the world. Most of the provincial capitals are unconnected to the capital city, and improving road connectivity could lead to a significant boost in trade and economic growth. At the same time the DRC is also home to the second largest rainforest in the world. The iconic Congo forests are a trove of ecological value—some monetizable and most that is not. So the destruction of the DRC’s forests will have significant environmental ramifications. We provide empirical estimates of the economic benefits of improving market access and reducing transportation costs. We then estimate a forest destruction function to assess the impact that new or improved roads have on forest clearing. In addition, a novel biodiversity index is developed to identify forests of high biodiversity significance. Two simulations are performed to quantitatively demonstrate the impacts of road improvement projects in terms of increased GDP, forest loss, and biodiversity that are put at risk. To our knowledge, this is the first study to jointly examine the economic benefits and ecological risks to infrastructure investments. It is envisioned that the methods employed here can be used to guide future infrastructure investments toward designs which have a large economic impact while minimizing ecological risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of World Development is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=125788231
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.06.001
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 26
        StartPage: 351
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Economic development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Biodiversity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Infrastructure (Economics)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Forests & forestry
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Congo (Democratic Republic)
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The Road to Growth: Measuring the Tradeoffs between Economic Growth and Ecological Destruction.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Damania, Richard
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Russ, Jason
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Barra, Alvaro Federico
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Wheeler, David
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Text: Jan2018
              Type: published
              Y: 2018
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 0305750X
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 101
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: World Development
              Type: main
ResultId 1