Table 1.
Description of variables hypothesized to influence forest cover change
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| Distance Measures | |
| Road Access | Defined by the head of the household in 1990 and 1999. Coded as: (0) no access in 1990 or 1999; (1) no access in 1990, access in 1999; and (2) access in 1990 and 1999 |
| Walking distance to road (km) | Measured from the household to the nearest point on the road |
| Nearest major city | Fincas were linked to communities using responses from the 1999 spousal survey (where they go to market, send children to school, and acquire health care). If a community other than one of the four primary reference communities was listed, the nearest primary community was selected |
| KM to nearest primary city | Euclidean distances were computed using ArcView 3.1 |
| KM to Lago Agrio | Same as above |
| KM to Coca | Same as above |
| KM to Shushufindi | Same as above |
| KM to La Joya de los Sachas | Same as above |
| Population Measures | |
| # Children 0–11 | All population variables were derived from household rosters in 1990 and 1999, aggregated to the finca level |
| # Males 12–49 and 50+ | |
| # Females 12–49 and 50+ | |
| Changes in population (Children 0–11, Males 12–49, Females 12–49, People 50+) | Changes in population from 1990 to 1999 by age-sex category |
| Time | |
| Finca settlement cohort | The earliest recorded year of arrival to the finca among those living on the farm in 1990 |
| Household Wealth | |
| Tenure security | Defined as: |
| 0 If no title was held on the finca in 1999 OR if no title was held on the finca in 1990 and less than 50% of the finca was under title in 1999 | |
| 1 At least 50% of the finca was under title in 1999 OR at least 50% of the finca was under title in 1990 and at least 10% in 1999 | |
| Off-farm employment (OFE) | Derived from reported person-months of time recorded for each person working away from the farm in the previous 12 months. |
| Natural Resources | |
| Soil Quality | A continuous measure from 0 to 1 representing the proportion of the finca with good soil quality based on responses to questions of soil quality by heads of household in the 1999 survey. |
| Topography | A continuous measure from 0 to 1 representing the proportion of the finca with flat topography based upon responses to questions of topography in the head of household survey in 1999. |