Since 2003, when the Workers’ Party took office in Brazil, the federal government has brought big infrastructure projects back to the political agenda, including in the environmentally and socially fragile Amazon region. Unlike the military regime that promoted such projects decades before,...

The recognition of land title and demarcation of indigenous peoples’ ancestral lands and the guarantee of the rights of consultation and free, prior and informed consent in the context of large infrastructure projects represent some of the major challenges for indigenous peoples and...

In this paper we link unique data on local social infrastructure expenditure with micro-level individual survey data of self-reported social capital measures of trust and participation in community activities. We use both probit and tobit models to estimate the impact of social infrastructure...

Environmental impact assessment is currently the major Brazilian institution that routinely seeks community input about infrastructure projects. It is criticized both by activists who think it permits projects it should not and by project proponents who think that it is too slow and blocks...