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The Diffusion of Cattle Ranching and Deforestation: Prospects for a Hollow Frontier in Mexico’s Yucatán

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  • Christopher B. Busch
  • Colin Vance

Abstract

his article investigates the behavioral drivers of pasture creation and associated implications for deforestation in a 22,000 km2 agricultural frontier spanning the base of Mexico’s southern Yucatán. After developing a theoretical model that highlights the role of social networks and information spillovers with respect to the decision to begin cattle ranching, we use household data to estimate an econometric duration model of the determinants of pasture creation. Although pasture fits well with the typical household’s resource constraints, its continued expansion contributes to a hollow frontier dynamic in which the spread of low-value cattle ranching coincides with decreasing population.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher B. Busch & Colin Vance, 2011. "The Diffusion of Cattle Ranching and Deforestation: Prospects for a Hollow Frontier in Mexico’s Yucatán," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(4), pages 682-698.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:landec:v:87:y:2011:iv:1:p:682-698
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hecht, Susanna B., 1985. "Environment, development and politics: Capital accumulation and the livestock sector in Eastern Amazonia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 663-684, June.
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    4. Timothy G. Conley & Christopher R. Udry, 2010. "Learning about a New Technology: Pineapple in Ghana," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(1), pages 35-69, March.
    5. Vance, Colin & Geoghegan, Jacqueline, 2002. "Temporal and spatial modelling of tropical deforestation: a survival analysis linking satellite and household survey data," Agricultural Economics of Agricultural Economists, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 27(3), November.
    6. Feder, Gershon & Just, Richard E & Zilberman, David, 1985. "Adoption of Agricultural Innovations in Developing Countries: A Survey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 255-298, January.
    7. Robert Walker & Stephen Perz & Marcellus Caldas & Luiz Guilherme Teixeira Silva, 2002. "Land Use and Land Cover Change in Forest Frontiers: The Role of Household Life Cycles," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 25(2), pages 169-199, April.
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    9. Bardhan, Pranab & Udry, Christopher, 1999. "Development Microeconomics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198773719.
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    Cited by:

    1. Walsh, Patrick J. & Bird, Stephen & Heintzelman, Martin D., 2015. "Understanding Local Regulation of Fracking: A Spatial Econometric Approach," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(02), pages 138-163, August.
    2. Yankuic Galvan-Miyoshi & Robert Walker & Barney Warf, 2015. "Land Change Regimes and the Evolution of the Maize-Cattle Complex in Neoliberal Mexico," Land, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 4(3), pages 1-24, August.
    3. Elisabeth Hettig & Jann Lay & Kacana Sipangule, 2016. "Drivers of Households’ Land-Use Decisions: A Critical Review of Micro-Level Studies in Tropical Regions," Land, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 5(4), pages 1-32, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • R22 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Other Demand

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