The 30-year dynamic of the softwood sawtimber stumpage market in Louisiana: insights from quarterly data from 1988 to 2017

Based on a 30-year quarterly dataset, this paper examines the dynamics of the softwood sawtimber stumpage market in Louisiana from 1988 to 2017. Cointegration analysis and vector error correction model approaches were used to examine the demand and supply of softwood sawtimber stumpage products in Louisiana. Competition among different stumpage products, seasonality patterns in the market, and the impact of some exogenous events were also investigated. The results showed that the demand for softwood sawtimber products is inelastic to its own price while the supply is elastic. Strong seasonality patterns were detected for both stumpage price and harvest quantity. Significant substitution effects were also found among different types of stumpage products. In addition, the estimation results of the dynamic model suggested that, when facing an exogenous impact, the harvest quantity adjusts far quicker than does the stumpage price in the Louisiana softwood sawtimber stumpage market.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author