Effects of economic globalization and trade on forest transitions: Evidence from 76 developing countries

Current forest recovery efforts in developing countries are different from previous efforts in developed countries, especially since the rise of economic globalization in the 1980s. Therefore, forest transition theory should now consider factors relating to industrialization, urbanization, and globalization. While previous studies have mainly focused on the variable trade of primary sector products, this study applies a more holistic research perspective and discusses, more widely, the links between trade, adjustment of trade structure, FDI, and forest transition. The results suggest that the total export value has a significant negative effect on forest area and volume, while the percentage of non-primary products has a significant positive impact on forest volume and density in the 76 developing countries studied. These results indicate that a country or region may improve the forest resource conditions by upgrading the export structure through the development of export-oriented manufacturing and service industries during the process of global industrial restructuring. This demonstrates the need to consider the overall global economic situation of a country when exploring the effects of economic globalization on forest transitions. In addition, this study attempts to address extant concerns regarding the quality of forest transitions by moving beyond the analysis of forest coverage to explore changes in both forest area and forest volume.