Interactions among forest enterprises: Do they compete or cooperate with sales by auction on log prices?

A few studies on log auction sales have addressed competition and cooperation among seller enterprises. Interactions among state forest enterprises in the same or neighboring regions have been neglected. This study aimed to determine the extent of competitive and cooperative relationships among forest enterprises (FEs) in relation to the prices of Austrian pine (Pinus nigra), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), and fir (Abies sp.) log sales by auction. The study investigated log sales between 2017 and 2018 conducted by 26 FEs in Turkey. Competitive and cooperative relations among FEs, based on auction time, volume and prices, were tested via correlation and multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that an FE may display competitive or cooperative relationships with other FEs, regardless of whether or not such FEs are border neighbors. We determined that an FE may compete with another FE in one log type, while cooperating in another wood type. Our study shows that log sales revenues of some FEs can be increased by changing the length of time between the sales of two FEs, by not holding the sales of two FEs on the same day, and by differentiating the volume of rival and complementary wood types. Our study found that better management of competition and solidarity between forest enterprises would help create more financial resources for sustainable forest management without having to harvest more trees.