Red Pine Management for Timber, Commercial Seeds and Amenities: Comparing Nested Models

The red pine (pinus koraiensis) is a commonly distributed tree species in northeastern China and Korea. It has a superior wood quality, which is valuable for construction and manufacturing purposes. In recent years, the seeds of this species have been extensively used as a source of delicious food and for medical purposes, and have acquired a considerable commercial value. Without special treatment, seed production is rather limited. It is greatly enhanced by removing the top of the tree at a mature age. Li & Löfgren (2000) derive optimal harvesting rules for such multiple use management of red pine trees. In this paper we amend their results, by introducing amenity values. We explore the optimality conditions, and we conduct a comparative static analysis. In particular, we introduce a technique to compare solutions between economic models that are different, but nested.