Abstract
We examined the relationship between the rules set by rights-holders and both group size and planted forest coverage. For this analysis, we utilized micro data from the 2000 Census of Agriculture and Forestry in Japan, focusing on customary holding entities. Our analytical approach involved constructing a histogram that displayed planted forest rates for various types of rights-holder rules and different hierarchical group sizes. Additionally, we employed a three-valued multinomial logistic regression model to evaluate the relationship between planted forest coverage and these factors. Our findings revealed that larger groups generally exhibited a higher proportion of planted forests. Additionally, we observed that the rate of planted forest was lower for rights-holder rules that prevented new members from joining without removing their rights to depart from the village (known as the equity rights type). A potential reason for the higher rate of planted forests in larger groups might be the relative ease of sourcing labor for afforestation projects. It is also noteworthy that many groups that adopted the equity rights type exhibited a reduced level of member interest in both resources and rules.
