Indians, Markets, and Rainforests: Theory, Methods, Analysis

by Godoy, Ricardo A.

• ISBN13: 9780231117852
• ISBN10: 023111785X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: COLUMBIA UNIV PRESS

Summary

This book addresses two important and related questions: does participation in a market economy help or hurt indigenous peoples and how does it affect the conservation of tropical rainforest flora and fauna? Oddly, there have been few quantitative studies that have addressed these issues.Ricardo Godoy's research takes an important step toward rectifying this oversight by investigating five different lowland Amerindian societies of tropical Latin America -- all of which are experiencing deep changes as they modernize. Godoy examines the effect of markets on a broad range of areas including health, conservation of flora and fauna, leisure, folk knowledge, reciprocity, and private time preference. He concludes that, contrary to considerable anthropological theory, the effect of markets on the quality of life and the rainforest are often unclear or benign. Godoy uses multivariate techniques to examine the changes modernization has had on many indicators of the quality of life and the environment and concludes that the seeds of socioeconomic differentiation may already lie dormant in simple economies.The impact of modernization on lowland Amerindians is a topic of great concern to anthropologists, researchers, and policymakers in developing nations, and this book is a significant contribution to the debate about the likely future of indigenous people.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Part I The Question, the Research Design, and the People	1	(66)
The Question and Its Significance	3	(12)
Clearing the Underbrush	9	(6)
Comparing Approaches	15	(18)
The Approach of Development Economists	16	(4)
The Approach of Political Economists	20	(3)
The Anthropological Approach	23	(1)
The Model of Gross and Colleagues	24	(5)
A Ricardian Model of Trade	29	(3)
Conclusion	32	(1)
Research Design	33	(16)
Definitions, Causality, and Functional Form	33	(3)
Rationale for the Choice of Cultures	36	(1)
Methods Used to Collect Information	37	(1)
Sumu-Mayagna (Nicaragua) and Tawahka (Honduras)	38	(4)
Mojeno and Yuracare (Bolivia)	42	(1)
Tsimane (Bolivia)	43	(1)
Chiquitano (Bolivia)	43	(1)
Quality of Information	44	(1)
Sampling	45	(1)
Conclusion	46	(3)
Ethnographic Sketches	49	(18)
Tawahka	52	(5)
Tsimane	57	(1)
Mojeno and Yuracare	58	(2)
Chiquitano	60	(2)
Similarities and Differences	62	(3)
Conclusion	65	(2)
Part II The Findings	67	(132)
Forest Clearance: Income, Technology, and Private Time Preference	69	(18)
Rationale for the Choice of Indigenous People and of Old-Growth Forest to Study Deforestation	70	(1)
The Model	71	(3)
Hypotheses	74	(1)
Previous Studies	74	(2)
Variables	76	(4)
Results	80	(1)
Hypotheses 1-3: Forest Clearance and Income	80	(3)
Hypothesis 4: Forest Clearance and Crop Yields	83	(1)
Hypothesis 5: Forest Clearnace and Private Time Preference	84	(1)
Sensitivity Analysis and Controlling for Reverse Causality	85	(1)
Conclusion	85	(2)
Game Consumption, Income, and Prices: Empirical Estimates and Implications for Conservation	87	(12)
The Role of Income and Prices in Game Consumption: Implications for Conservation	89	(2)
Goals, Variables, and Econometric Models	91	(1)
Results	92	(3)
Comparing Availability of Game in Rich and Poor Communities	95	(1)
Conclusion	96	(3)
Chayanov and Netting: When Does Demography Matter?	99	(16)
When Does Demography Matter?	101	(1)
Goals and Econometric Approach	102	(3)
Results	105	(1)
Does Demography Matter After Controlling for Distance from Village to Town?	105	(3)
Comparison of Autarkic and Non-Autarkic Households: Pooled Sample	108	(2)
Comparison of Autarkic and Non-Autarkic Households: Results by Ethnic Group	110	(2)
Conclusion	112	(3)
Chayanov and Sahlins on Work and Leisure	115	(12)
Cross-Cultural Evidence and Theory	117	(1)
Goals	118	(1)
Econometric Approach	119	(2)
Potential Endogeneity and Fixed Effects	121	(1)
Results	122	(3)
Conclusion	125	(2)
Human Health: Does It Worsen with Markets?	127	(24)
The Three Positions in the Debate	128	(2)
Reasons for Divergent Views	130	(3)
Hypotheses	133	(2)
Definition and Measurement of Variables	135	(5)
Econometric Models, Endogeneity, and Comparing Different Metrics	140	(2)
The Limits of Bivariate Analysis: A Detour and Example	142	(2)
Results of Multivariate Analysis	144	(4)
Conclusion	148	(1)
The Debate	149	(2)
Mishaps, Savings, and Reciprocity	151	(22)
Definition, Measurement, and Estimation	153	(2)
The Approach of Evolutionary Ecologists	155	(1)
A New Approach to Reciprocity	156	(2)
A Reduced-Form, Unrestricted Model of Savings	158	(1)
Ethnographic Context of Misfortunes and Coping Mechanisms	159	(4)
Savings in Domesticated Animals and Misfortunes	163	(1)
Definition and Measurement of Variables	164	(2)
Results	166	(1)
Markets and Reciprocity	166	(3)
Saving Out of Transitory or Permanent Income	169	(1)
Conclusion	169	(4)
Trade and Cognition: On the Growth and Loss of Knowledge	173	(12)
Nicholas Brokaw
David Wilkie
Daniel Colon
Adam Palermo
Suzanne Lye
Stanley Wei
A Ricardian Trade Model and the Loss of Knowledge	174	(1)
Econometric Model	175	(1)
Methods	176	(1)
Test of Knowledge	176	(2)
Household Socioeconomic and Demographic Surveys	178	(1)
The Variables: Defintion and Measurement	178	(5)
Specialization	183	(1)
Conclusion	184	(1)
Time Preference, Markets, and the Evolution of Social Inequality	185	(14)
Delay of Gratification Among the Tsimane	186	(2)
The Determinants of Time Preferences: Tsimane and Western Views	188	(2)
Methods and Variables	190	(1)
The Measurement of Time Preference and The Rationale for Using Food	191	(1)
Information and Econometric Model	192	(1)
Results	193	(1)
A Hypothesis About Time Preference and Occupational Choice	194	(2)
Conclusion	196	(3)
Part III What We Have Learned	199	(10)
Conclusions	203	(6)
Contribution to Anthropological Theory	203	(2)
Contribution to Anthropological Methods	205	(1)
Knowledge and Public Policy	206	(3)
Appendix	209	(4)
References	213	(28)
Index	241