We present a conceptual framework to better understand the interaction between settlement and the emergence of de facto property rights on frontiers prior to governments establishing and enforcing de jure property rights. In this framework, potential rents associated with more exclusivity drives...

The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 gave relatively strong powers to the president. We model and test executive-legislative relations in Brazil and demonstrate that presidents have used pork as a political currency to exchange for votes on policy reforms. In particular Presidents Cardoso and Lula...

Intro -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1. Settlement, Government Policy, and Property Rights in the Brazilian Amazon: Introduction and Implications for Frontiers Elsewhere in the World -- 2. A History of Land Policy in Brazil: The Assignment of Property Rights to Land and Land...