Past Research

Research on natural resource economics and climate change

With an emphasis on forests, I study how climate change induces adaptation by landowners when making decisions that impact the use and value of natural resources. This work has a foundation in natural resource economics theory, but with an explicit goal of adding empirical evidence for how decisions shape the economic consequences regarding the use and conservation of forests and other natural resources. I examine climate as an input to natural resource management, which can influence behavior by altering risks and productivity of different natural resource management options.

Refereed Journal Articles (copies of published versions available via my Google Scholar page)

  • *Wang, Y., and D.J. Lewis. 2024. Wildfire and climate change have lowered the economic value of western US forests by altering risk expectations. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 123: 102894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102894
  • *Mihiar, C., and D.J. Lewis. 2023. An empirical analysis of U.S. land-use change under multiple climate change scenarios. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. 2: 597-611. Online version. DOI: 10.1002/jaa2.82
  • *Davis, E.C., Sohngen, B., and D.J. Lewis. 2022. The effect of carbon fertilization on naturally regenerated and planted U.S. forests. Nature Communications, 13 (5490): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33196-x. (Press: Phys.org)
  • Hashida, Y., and D.J. Lewis. 2022. Estimating welfare impacts of climate change using a discrete-choice model of land management: An application to western U.S. forestry. Resource and Energy Economics, 68: 101295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2022.101295.
  • *Mihiar, C., and D.J. Lewis. 2021. Climate, adaptation, and the value of forestland: A national Ricardian analysis of the United States. Land Economics, 91(4): 911-932.  https://doi.org/10.3368/le.97.4.011620-0004R1
  • *Hashida, Y., Withey, J., Lewis, D.J., Newman, T., and J. Kline. 2020. Anticipating changes in wildlife habitat induced by private forest owners’ adaptation to climate change and carbon policy. PLOS ONE 15(4): e0230525. Online version.
    • This paper was turned into a science lesson for middle school students in the Natural Inquirer’s Woodsy Owl: Online version.
  • Hashida, Y.*, and D.J. Lewis. 2019. “The Intersection between Climate Adaptation, Mitigation, and Natural Resources: An Empirical Analysis of Forest Management.” Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 6(5): 893-926. (PDF version) (Supplementary appendix).

    Research on the economics of land-use change

    Land-use change can alter the composition and patterns of landscapes, and thereby affect the services that natural ecosystems provide to people. My research focuses on developing econometric-based estimates of land-use change with a theoretical foundation in applied microeconomics. A key application of my econometric land-use change models is to develop simulations of changes in landscapes and the resulting suite of ecosystem services under a range of policy scenarios. The primary goal of this work is to develop empirical evidence regarding how decisions by many individual landowners affect landscape pattern and ecosystem service provision.

    Refereed Journal Articles (copies of published versions available via my Google Scholar page)

    • Bigelow, D.P., Lewis, D.J., and C. Mihiar. 2022. A major shift in U.S. land development avoids significant losses in forest and agricultural land. Environmental Research Letters, 17(2): 024007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4537. Press coverage: (Phys.org 1/27/2022; Anthropocene 2/1/2022)
    • *Bigelow, D.P., Plantinga, A.J., Lewis, D.J., and C. Langpap. 2017. How Does Urbanization Affect Water Withdrawals? Insights from an Econometric-Based Landscape Simulation. Land Economics, 93(3): 413-436. (PDF version) (Supplementary appendix). Press coverage: (Eugene Register Guard 10/8/17), (Western Farmer Stockman 10/16/17)
    • *Zipp, K.Y., Lewis, D.J., and B. Provencher. 2017. Does the Conservation of Land Reduce Development? An Econometric-Based Landscape Simulation with Land Market Feedbacks. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 81: 19-37. (PDF version) (Supplementary Appendix)
    • Butsic, V., Lewis, D.J., Radeloff, V.C., and T. Kuemmerle. 2017. Quasi-Experimental Methods Enable Stronger Inferences from Observational Data in Ecology. Basic and Applied Ecology, 19: 1-10.
    • Jones, K.J., and D.J. Lewis. 2015. Estimating the Counterfactual Impact of Conservation Programs on Land Cover Outcomes: The Role of Matching and Panel Regression Techniques. PLOS One 10(10): e0141380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141380.
    • *Wendland, K.J., Baumann, M., Lewis, D.J., Sieber, A., and V.C. Radeloff. 2015. Protected Area Effectiveness in European Russia: A Post-Matching Panel Data Analysis. Land Economics, 91(1): 149-168. (PDF version).
    • Martinuzzi, S., Radeloff, V.C., Joppa, L.N., Hamilton, C.M., Helmers, D.P., Plantinga, A.J., and D.J. Lewis. 2015. Scenarios of Future Land Use Change around United States Protected Areas. Biological Conservation, 184: 446-455.
    • Lawler, J., Lewis, D., Nelson, E., Plantinga, A., Polasky, S., Withey, J., Helmers, D., Martinuzzi, S., and V. Radeloff. 2014. Projected Land-Use Change Impacts on U.S. Ecosystem Services. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(20): 7492-7497. (PDF version). Press coverage: (Phys.org 9/24/2014)
    • *Wendland, K., Lewis, D.J., and J. Alix-Garcia. 2014. The Effect of Decentralized Governance on Timber Extraction in European Russia. Environmental and Resource Economics, 57: 19-40. (PDF version).
    • Plantinga, A.J., and D.J. Lewis. 2014. Landscape Simulations with Econometric-Based Land-Use Models. Chapter 15 in the Oxford Handbook of Land Economics, Oxford University Press, New York. (PDF version).
    • *Robinson, B.E., Provencher, B., and D.J. Lewis. 2013. Managing Wild Resources: Institutional Choice and the Recovery of Resource Rent in Southwest China. World Development, 48: 120-132. (PDF version).
    • Beaudry, F., Radeloff, V.C., Pigeon, A.M., Plantinga, A.J., Lewis, D.J., Helmers, D., and V. Butsic. 2013. The Loss of Forest Birds Habitat under Different Land Use Policies as Projected by a Coupled Ecological-Econometric Model. Biological Conservation, 165: 1-9.
    • Martinuzzi, S., Radeloff, V.C., Higgins, J.V., Helmers, D.P., Plantinga, A.J. and D.J. Lewis. 2013. Key Areas for Conserving United States Biodiversity Likely Threatened by Future Land Use Change. Ecosphere, 4(5): 1-13.
    • Hamilton,C.M., Martinuzzi,S., Heglund,P.J., Lewis, D.J., Plantinga, A.J., Thogmartin,W.E., Radeloff, V.C., and A.M. Pidgeon. 2013. Current and Future Land Use around a Nationwide Protected Area Network. PLOS One, 8(1): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055737.
    • Radeloff, V.C., Nelson, E., Plantinga, A.J., Lewis, D.J., Helmers, D., Lawler, J.J., Withey, J.C., Beaudry, F., Martinuzzi, S., Butsic, V., Lonsdorf, E., White, D., and S. Polasky. 2012. Economic-Based Projections of Future Land-Use under Alternative Economic Policy Scenarios in the Conterminous U.S. Ecological Applications, 22(3): 1036-1049.
    • *Wendland, K., Lewis, D.J., Alix-Garcia, J., Ozdogan, M., Baumann, M., and V. Radeloff. 2011. Regional- and District-Level Drivers of Timber Harvesting in European Russia after the Collapse of the Soviet Union. Global Environmental Change, 21: 1290-1300.
    • *Butsic, V., Lewis, D.J., and *L. Ludwig. 2011. An Econometric Analysis of Land Development with Endogenous Zoning. Land Economics, 87(3): 412-432. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., Barham, B.L., and *B. Robinson. 2011. Are there Spatial Spillovers in the Adoption of Clean Technology? The Case of Organic Dairy Farming. Land Economics, 87(2): 250-267. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J. 2010. An Economic Framework for Forecasting Land Use and Ecosystem Change. Resource and Energy Economics, 32(2): 98-116. (PDF version).
    • Butsic, V., Lewis, D.J., and V.C. Radeloff. 2010. Lakeshore Zoning has Heterogeneous Ecological Effects: An Application of a Coupled Economic-Ecological Model. Ecological Applications, 20(3):867-879. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., Provencher, B., and V. Butsic. 2009. The Dynamic Effects of Open-Space Conservation Policies on Residential Development Density. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 57(3): 239-252. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., Barham, B.L., and K. Zimmerer. 2008. Spatial Externalities in Agriculture: Empirical Analysis, Statistical Identification, and Policy Implications. World Development, 36(10): 1813-1829. (PDF version).
    • Alig, R.J., D.J. Lewis, and J.J. Swenson. 2005. Is Forest Fragmentation Driven by the Spatial Configuration of Land Quality? The Case of Western Oregon. Forest Ecology and Management, 217: 266-274.

    Research on estimating non-market economic values

    Many goods and services provided by ecosystems are not traded in markets and therefore have no readily available prices. My research focuses on developing econometric methods, grounded in microeconomic theory, to estimate the non-market values of goods and services provided by ecosystems. My work uses a variety of methods, from stated preference choice experiments to hedonic models of land markets, though I also sometimes use methods from regional economics. Applications mostly focus on ecosystem services and attributes of interest to the broader field of conservation science.

    Refereed Journal Articles (copies of published versions available via my Google Scholar page)

    • Lewis, D.J., Kling, D.M., Dundas, S.J., and D.K. Lew. 2022. Estimating the value of threatened species abundance dynamics. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 113: 102639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2022.102639.
    • Chen, Y., Lewis, D.J., and B. Weber. 2021. Natural amenities and skill sorting in rural communities: A case study of land conservation policy. The Annals of Regional Science 67: 649-669. (PDF version) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-021-01060-3
    • *Long, D., Lewis, D.J., and Langpap, C. 2021. Negative traffic externalities and infant health: The role of income heterogeneity and residential sorting. Environmental and Resource Economics 80: 637-674. (PDF version) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-021-00601-w
    • Dundas, S.J., and D.J. Lewis. 2020. Estimating option values and spillover damages for coastal protection: Evidence from Oregon’s Planning Goal 18. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 7(3): 519-554. (PDF version). Press Coverage (Phys.org 2/7/20)
    • Lewis, D.J., Dundas, S.J., Kling, D.M., Lew, D.K., and S.D. Hacker. 2019. The non-market benefits of early and partial gains in managing threatened salmon. PLOS ONE 14(8): e0220260. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220260. Press Coverage: (Science Daily 8/14/2019); (Earth.com 8/16/2019); (Western Farmer Stockman 9/6/2019)
    • *Zipp, K.Y., Lewis, D.J., Provencher, B., and J. Vander Zanden. 2019. The spatial dynamics of the economic impacts of an aquatic invasive species: An empirical analysis. Land Economics, 95(1): 1-18. (PDF version).
    • Chen, Y., Lewis, D.J., and B. Weber. 2016. Conservation Land Amenities and Regional Economies: A Post-Matching Difference-in-Differences Analysis of the Northwest Forest Plan. Journal of Regional Science, 56(3):373-394. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., B. Provencher., and B. Beardmore. 2015. Using an Intervention Framework to Value Salient Ecosystem Services in a Stated Preference Experiment. Ecological Economics, 114: 141-151. (PDF version).
    • Provencher, B., Lewis, D.J., and K. Anderson. 2012. Disentangling Preferences and Expectations in Stated Preference Analysis with Respondent Uncertainty: The Case of Invasive Species Prevention. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 64(2): 169-182. (PDF version).
    • *Horsch, E.J., and D.J. Lewis. 2009. The Effects of Aquatic Invasive Species on Property Values: Evidence from a Quasi Experiment. Land Economics, 85(3): 391-409. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., G.L. Hunt, and A.J. Plantinga. 2003. Does Public Lands Policy Affect Local Wage Growth? Growth and Change, 34(1): 64-86. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., G.L. Hunt, and A.J. Plantinga. 2002. Public Conservation Land and Employment Growth in the Northern Forest Region. Land Economics, 78(2): 245-259. (PDF version).

    Research on the economics of environmental policy instruments

    Land-use decisions generate benefits and costs to many people who are not involved with those decisions. These pervasive externalities imply that ecosystem services are not efficiently provided by private landscapes. Environmental policy instruments can internalize externalities by provide incentives for landowners to account for the ecosystem service production that is affected by their land-use decisions. A particular interest of mine is understanding policy design in the presence of asymmetric information, spatially dependent ecosystem service production functions, and climate change induced shifts in wildlife.

    Refereed Journal Articles (copies of published versions available via my Google Scholar page)

    • Lewis, D.J., and S. Polasky. 2018. An auction mechanism for the optimal provision of ecosystem services under climate change. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 92: 20-34. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., and J. Wu. 2015. Land-Use Patterns and Spatially Dependent Ecosystem Services: Some Microeconomic Foundations. International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, 8(2): 191-223. (PDF Version).
    • Polasky, S., Lewis, D.J., Plantinga, A.J., and E. Nelson. 2014. Implementing the Optimal Provision of Ecosystem Services. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(17): 6248-6253. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., and E. Nelson. 2014. The Economics of Wildlife Conservation. Chapter 7 in the Oxford Handbook of Land Economics, Oxford University Press, New York. (PDF version).
    • *Butsic, V., Lewis, D.J., and V. Radeloff. 2013. Reserve Selection with Land Market Feedbacks. Journal of Environmental Management, 114: 276-284.
    • Lewis, D.J., Plantinga, A.J., Nelson, E., and S. Polasky. 2011. The Efficiency of Voluntary Incentive Policies for Preventing Biodiversity Loss. Resource and Energy Economics, 33(1): 192-211. (PDF version).
    • Lewis, D.J., Plantinga, A.J., and J. Wu. 2009. Targeting Incentives to Reduce Habitat Fragmentation. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 91(4): 1080-1096. (PDF version).
    • Nelson, E., Polasky, S., Lewis, D.J., Plantinga, A.J., Lonsdorf, E., White, D., Bael, D., and J. Lawler. 2008. Efficiency of Incentives to Jointly Increase Carbon Sequestration and Species Conservation on a Landscape. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(28): 9471-9476. (PDF Version)
    • Lewis, D.J., and A.J. Plantinga. 2007. Policies for Habitat Fragmentation: Combining Econometrics with GIS-Based Landscape Simulations. Land Economics, 83(2): 109-127. (PDF version).

    Note: * above signifies a paper written with a graduate student as part of their research.

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