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[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Payment for Environmental Services (PES) are market-based policy instruments. Which compensate private resource managers financially for the environmental services their forests provide. As forest PES policies are increasingly implemented; further research is needed to quantify their environmental benefits and to strategize their improved efficiency. This dissertation evaluates PES policy outcomes from a quantitative analysis within the specific case study of Ecuador's Socio Bosque Program (Span.: Programa Socio Bosque-PSB). The PSB is a national forest PES program instituted in 2008. The dissertation aims to bridge the gap in knowledge regarding the role of PES policies in preventing deforestation and forest degradation. It approaches this aim by presenting methods which integrate and analyze data in a way which progresses the science of conservation policy evaluation. Ultimately, the insights provided advance the science of conservation policy thereby preventing the needless degradation and loss of forest ecosystems. The specific objectives of the overall dissertation are to:(1) better understand the relationship between variations in the structure PES contracts and forest owner enrollment, and (2) go beyond measuring the effect of conservation payments in preventing deforestation to estimate their effect in preventing forest degradation.