11. Researching Incomplete Markets: a Strategy for Timber Market Research in Leyte

The economic concepts of imperfect markets and incomplete information are examined, in the context of the market for smallholder timber in Leyte Province in the Philippines. A strategy is advanced to carry out timber market research, which involves identification of the supply chain and stakeholder groups in the Leyte timber market, snowball sampling to identify initial market agents, making contact with market agents to obtain initial information and identify those willing to be interviewed, and an interview survey with an unstructured questionnaire to obtain more detailed information. This amounts effectively to a series of case studies, obtained using qualitative research methods. Suggestions are made on how to process survey data, to provide information in support of the specific objectives of the market research.