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The Ecological Footprint of Poverty Alleviation: Evidence from Mexico's Oportunidades Program

Author

Listed:
  • Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M.

    (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

  • McIntosh, Craig

    (University of California, San Diego)

  • Sims, Katharine R. E.

    (Amherst College)

  • Welch, Jarrod R.

    (University of California, San Diego)

Abstract

We study the consequences of poverty alleviation programs for environmental degradation. We exploit the community-level eligibility discontinuity for a conditional cash transfer program in Mexico to identify the impacts of income increases on deforestation, and use the program’s initial randomized rollout to explore household responses. We find that additional income increases demand for resource-intensive goods. The corresponding production response and deforestation increase is more detectable in communities with poor road infrastructure. These results are consistent with the idea that better access to markets disperses environmental harm and the full effects of treatment can only be observed where poor infrastructure localizes them.

Suggested Citation

  • Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M. & McIntosh, Craig & Sims, Katharine R. E. & Welch, Jarrod R., 2010. "The Ecological Footprint of Poverty Alleviation: Evidence from Mexico's Oportunidades Program," Staff Paper Series 549, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:wisagr:549
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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