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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2017
  5. Does Forest Loss Increase Human Disease? Evidence from Nigeria

Does Forest Loss Increase Human Disease? Evidence from Nigeria

  • Julia Berazneva
  • Tanya S. Byker
American Economic Review
vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017
(pp. 516-21)
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Abstract

We examine the impact of forest loss on three infectious diseases attributed to modifiable environmental factors in the last decade in Nigeria. Geolinking a new high-resolution dataset of global forest change to child-level health data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys from 2008 and 2013, we find that forest loss significantly increases the incidence of malaria, though it does not affect the incidence of diarrhea and respiratory diseases. The impact of forest loss on malaria is large and the dynamic pattern of the impact suggests a temporary ecological disturbance consistent with findings in the tropical medicine literature.

Citation

Berazneva, Julia, and Tanya S. Byker. 2017. "Does Forest Loss Increase Human Disease? Evidence from Nigeria." American Economic Review, 107 (5): 516-21. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171132

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Behavior
  • I15 Health and Economic Development
  • J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • O13 Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
  • Q23 Renewable Resources and Conservation: Forestry