The present paper analyses the relationship between consumption of timber p
roducts and socioeconomic variables by estimating timber consumption functi
ons, using fixed and random effects methods. To this end, we regress the pe
r capita consumption of timber products (roundwood equivalent) of a sample
of developed and developing countries over the period 1976 to 1989 on vario
us national indicators relevant to the development transition. The panel na
ture of the data facilitates us to track trends in consumption as economic
development proceeds. The results suggest that the response of the timber c
onsumption with respect to changes in the variables is sensitive to factors
specific to the country concerned. The coefficients of all the variables a
re inelastic and it is found that income, density and price are the main de
terminant variables although other variables also affect the consumption. T
he observations of this study are expected to assist the policy makers in p
rojecting future requirements of timber with more reliability. (C) 1998 Pub
lished by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.