A mix of public policy and market interventions in the mid-2000s led to historic reductions in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The collateral impact of these forest conservation policies on agricultural production is still poorly understood, though evidence is sorely needed given the...

This paper provides an estimate of the amount of carbon emissions that resulted from large scale deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon during the aggressive development period 1970 - 1985. The estimate is derived by combining a dynamic carbon model with a municipality level data set describing...

Brazilian Amazon deforestation rate is found to display a unit root and to be cointegrated with Brazilian GDP and its square – An Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Although, it is not the first time that such an EKC is detected, this may be the first such time-series evidence. Detecting an...

In this paper we examine land reform policies and their implications for violent conflict over land and resource use in the Brazilian Amazon. We identify the protagonists (land owners and squatters), derive their incentives to use violence, and show the role of legal inconsistencies as a basis...

Much of the world's gene pool is located in tropical rainforests, which are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Proper management of protected forests is crucial to avoid further loss of forest resources and biodiversity. Resource extraction by local communities has been cited as a major...

The international community considers the possibility of using aid as an instrument to improve natural resource conservation in developing countries. By making the amount of transfers dependent on the efforts of the recipient countries to improve conservation, appropriate incentives can be...

This article first examines conditions in aquatic ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. The article then criticizes the Clinton Administration's plan for managing the forests on the west side of the Cascade Mountains on the basis of its likely effectiveness in restoring and protecting healthy...

Recent evidence suggests that special interest groups significantly affect tropical deforestation through lobbying. We develop an open-economy model in which resource conversion is determined by a self-interested government that is susceptible to the influences of the political contributions it...

The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro focused the international spotlight on the problem of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. This report was prepared in an attempt to provide both national and international policy makers with...

This paper develops a theoretical as well as an empirical model of deforestation and economic development in a tropical forest economy. The empirical model is estimated using panel data for 316 municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon during the period 1970-1985. The effects of controversial...