Macroeconomics

Agriculture

Labour economics

Engineering

Ecology

Biology

Indigenous

Wage

Archaeology

Amazon rainforest

Economics

Market economy

Development economics

Business

Mechanical engineering

Geography

Work (physics)

Human capital

Market integration

Economic growth

Natural resource economics

Society & Natural Resources

Knowledge of the driving forces behind indigenous participation in the market is essential for practitioners intending to integrate conservation and development policies in indigenous territories. Nevertheless, empirical research on the determinants of market integration among indigenous peoples is still scarce. This article uses household survey data and multivariate techniques to examine the drivers of market integration among indigenous groups in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We use multiple measures of market integration, including the sale of crops, timber, and wildlife; the use of credit; and participation in wage labor. The results show that the way in which indigenous peoples integrate into the market depends on their endowments of human, financial, and physical capital. More educated households are able to engage in commercial agriculture and nonagricultural wage work, whereas uneducated poor households in communities in conflict with outsiders are pushed to engage in poorly paid agricultural wage work and (often illegal) timber operations.

The Drivers of Market Integration Among Indigenous Peoples: Evidence From the Ecuadorian Amazon