Contributions of Game Theory to Economic and Political Rationality in Forestry

Abstract

Political and economic decision-making processes take into account the rationality criteria of forests such as productivity, profitability, and economy. While these criteria in developed countries in the sense of forestry have positive values, such values of developing countries are fluctuating. In Turkey, only wood-based and non-wood forest products of forests are included in national balance sheets. Therefore, it is thought that the real value of forests could not be calculated. However, calculating the actual values will change all balances. Thus, the discussions on the capacity of forests are moved to a more mathematical ground. The fact that the capacity of the forests is not enough to meet all the needs causes the forest assets to be endangered and therefore requires rationality in using. The concept of rationality is based on rules and obtaining reasonable results, and it has been used frequently in recent studies of game theory modeling initiatives. Effective use of this approach in forest policy and economics will contribute to the development of forests, villagers and the country's economy by obtaining more rational results, and will also be beneficial to eliminate some problems between decision makers and the public. In the last 20 years, the 10-fold increase in forestry-based game theory modeling researches in the world indicates that the game theory approach has begun to be included in decision-making processes aimed at achieving sustainable forestry. As a consequence, the game theory approach seems a new and effective tool that will contribute to the economically and politically rational management of forestry.