Finally, to meet the fourth objective [test effect of policies on forest trends], we will utilize data on the location and timing of key forest policies in Sichuan and again use econometric techniques to quantitatively analyze the impact of these forest policies on forest cover. We will explore new methods that combine spatial econometric techniques and methods used in the program evaluation literature such as difference-in-differences and propensity score matching methods. Although these program evaluation methods have not yet been combined with spatial econometric techniques, they are being used by the best economists in the world to evaluate the impact of other policies on outcomes in rural areas .