Connecting Bureaucratic Structures to Forest Loss

In this article, we link ideas from Evans concerning embedded autonomy to forest loss. In doing so, we hypothesize that higher levels of meritocratic hiring, firing, and promotion decisions in a government’s bureaucracy should correspond to less forest loss in low- and middle-income nations. We test this hypothesis by analyzing data from 78 low- and middle-income nations with ordinary least squares regression and two-stage instrumental variable regression models. We find support for the hypothesis across a variety of model specifications, which include other factors that have been linked to forest loss. We conclude by discussing the theoretical, methodological, and policy implications of the study.