Speaker: Sarah Bui
Title: Dual Objectives of Payment for Ecosystem Services
Abstract: To address global deforestation, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) has been promoted as a policy instrument capable of jointly advancing environmental protection and economic development, yet rigorous long‑term evidence remains limited. Vietnam’s national PES program, launched in 2011, provides a valuable empirical setting to assess these dual impacts. Leveraging temporal and spatial variation in PES coverage and per‑hectare payment levels, I implement a difference‑in‑differences design combining satellite‑based measures of deforestation with data from the Vietnam Rural and Agricultural Census. Preliminary results confirm that PES reduces deforestation and increases household participation in the forestry sector. Further socioeconomic analysis is ongoing, and feedback on these next steps is welcome.