Cash Crops and the Development-Environment Tradeoff
利用贝宁腰果种植的局部差异，量化经济作物与森林之间的土地竞争，发现腰果种植导致森林退化但未带来可检测的收入增长，每赚1美元需付出16美元生态成本。
<h3>Abstract</h3> Cash crops can boost local economies but compete with forests for land. We quantify this tension in Benin using variation in cashew cultivation driven by heterogenous local responses to global cashew price volatility. We develop high-resolution cashew maps using a deep learning model trained on field data and pair it with gridded GDP data. Cashew cultivation degrades forests without generating detectable income gains. Muted income effects reflect (i) concentrated benefits obscured in coarse GDP data, and (ii) farmers valuing income-smoothing benefits of cashews over first order gains. Costbenefit calculations show each dollar earned from cashews incurs $16 in ecological costs.