Research and Scientific activities
Most of my research experience comes from my positions as a researcher at the University of Tehran, Department of Forest Policy and Economics at FAO, PhD student at Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Postdoc position at Norwegian University of Life Sciences and associated professor in economics at Department of Business and Management, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
My research strategy is to follow inter-disciplinary approaches, work with multi-disciplinary team to make use of the specialized expertise offered by various academic disciplines and to combine quantitative and qualitative research methods. My primary research field is «Forest and Resource Economics. » However, I realized that to obtain sustainable resource use we need a broad and interdisciplinary approach and therefore I have focused mainly on the following fields: «conflict resolution,» «climate change - reduced emission from deforestation and forest degradation known as REDD+,» «optimization programming models» and «game theory.»
Articles in international peer-reviewed journal
1. Soltani, A. , Årethun, T, Idsø, J. 2019.Regional economic impacts of local food-a case study of Gamalost in Vik, Norway. Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Enterprise Systems, Accounting and Logistics (16th ICESAL): 1-10.
2. Soltani, A. 2019. Kapittel 9: Er karbonlagring i skog i Tanzania et kostnadseffektivt tiltak mot klimaendring? En modellstudie. Modeller. Fjordantologien 2019. Universitetsforlaget 2019: 205-222.
3. Soltani, A. & Årethun, T. 2019. Cultural and touristic aspects of Gamalost – a local cheese from the fjord of Norway Journal of Gastronomy and Tourism. Accepted for publication
4. Soltani, A., Rannestad, M. M., Hofstad, O. 2019. Conditional payments for carbon sequestration as a local trading game—A case study from a Tanzanian village. Journal of environmental management, 240: 331-342.
5. Gebregziabher, D., Soltani, A. 2019. Exclosures in people’s minds: perceptions and attitudes in the Tigray region. Forest Policy and Economics, https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1YSiq4y2D1OUj0
6. Gebregziabher, D., Soltani, A., Hofstad, O. 2018. Management practices of selected exclosures in the Tigray, Ethiopia. Scandinavian Forest Economics, 48.
7. Soltani, A., Hofstad, O. 2018. Carbon sequestration payments in Miombo woodlands when transaction and inventory costs are included. Scandinavian Forest Economics, 48.
8. Gebregziabher, D., Soltani, A., Hofstad, O. 2017. Equity in the distribution of values of outputs from exclosures in Tigray, Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environments,146: 75-85.
9. Soltani, A. 2017. Kapittel 17: Om å finne balansen mellom materielle og immaterielle mål ved forvaltningen av statseide naturressurser. Immateriell kapital. Fjordantologien 2017. Universitetsforlaget 2017: 324-338
10. Soltani, A., Sankhayan, P. L., Hofstad, O., Eshraghi, F., Arabmazar, A. 2017. Consequences of an improved road network in rural Iran: Does it lead to better livelihoods and forest protection? Small-scale Forestry, 16: 347-365.
11. Soltani, A., Idsø, J., Årethun, T. 2017. Solidity and effective interest rate in Norwegian electricity sector. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Enterprise Systems, Accounting and Logistics (14th ICESAL): 1-10.
12. Rannestad, M. M., Soltani, A., Jjumba, J. N. 2016. Bio-economic modelling approaches for forest management in developing countries: opportunities and challenges. IN: Baardsen, S., Eid, T., Hoen, H.F. (eds.). Festschrift in honor of professors Ole Hofstad and Birger Solberg- INA fagrapport 36. 194 pp.
13. Soltani, A., Sankhayan, P. L., Hofstad, O. 2016. Playing forest governance games: Statevillage conflict in Iran. Forest Policy and Economics, 73: 251-261.
14. Soltani, A., Sankhayan, P. L., Hofstad, O. 2016. Theory of non-cooperative games as a tool to understand state-local conflicts in forest management. Scandinavian Forest Economics, 46: 208-216.
15. Soltani, A., Sankhayan, P. L., Hofstad, O. 2015. A recipe for co-management of forest and livestock—Results of bio-economic model at a village level in Iran. Agricultural Systems, 140:74-86.
16. Soltani, A., Eid, T., Hofstad, O. 2015. Optimizing management of goats and oak trees for sustainability and community's welfare: a case study from Zagros, Iran. Scandinavian journal of forest research, 30: 49-59.
17. Soltani, A., Angelsen, A., Eid, T. 2014. Poverty, forest dependence and forest degradation links: evidence from Zagros, Iran. Environment and Development Economics, 19: 607-630.
18. Soltani, A., Sankhayan, P. L., Hofstad, O. 2014. A dynamic bio-economic model for community management of goat and oak forests in Zagros, Iran. Ecological Economics, 106: 174-185.
19. Soltani, A., Eid, T. 2013. Organization, practices and performance of community-based traditional forest management–empirical evidence from Zagros, Iran. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 22: 19-37.
20. Soltani, A., Angelsen, A., Eid, T., Naieni, M. S. N., Shamekhi, T. 2012. Poverty, sustainability, and household livelihood strategies in Zagros, Iran. Ecological Economics, 79:60-70.