On the economic factors of deforestation: What can we learn from quantile analysis?

The deforestation factors at a global level have been widely studied in the empirical economic literature. However, the high heterogeneity among countries considerably limits the overall significance of the results. Using quantile approach, we show thatsome major deforestation factors are more prevalent in high deforestation countries, giving the insight that those factors have been under-estimated in previous studies.

► Distributional aspects are important to assess deforestation factors at a global level. ► We perform pooled and panel quantile regressions with fixed effects. ► Harvesting, growth and timber prices happen to be more important in high quantiles. ► The EKC appears to be valid for high deforestation observations only. ► In contrast, institutions or GDP have been over-estimated in the previous literature.