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Abstract
This study explores the impact of changes in environmental conditions on
intrahousehold labor allocation to the collection of environmental goods such as
fuelwood and leaf fodder for a sample of rural Nepali households. Using household-level
panel data collected in 1982 and 1997, the study finds that household collection time
significantly increases with measures of environmental resource scarcity, and that the
increase appears to come almost equally from men and women. Additionally, the results
of this study indicate that household collection burdens are significantly lower in 1997
than in 1982, and that women have seen the largest decrease in their time spent
collecting. The picture is not an entirely rosy one, however, as consumption of
environmental goods is also significantly lower in 1997 compared to 1982. The results
taken together indicate that one should not hastily attribute decreases in collection labor
burdens to successful forest rehabilitation in areas managed by forest user groups. In this
case it appears that lower collection times are principally due to reduced consumption
and increased collection from private land.