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Explaining Agriculture Expansion and Deforestation: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon – 1980/98

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  • Claudio Ferraz

Abstract

The extent of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon grew significantly in the last 20 years. Approximately 400,000 km2 of tropical forest were cleared from 1978 to 1998. Land conversion to pasture and crop areas were the main sources of deforestation, though the contribution of logging increased significantly in the nineties. This paper uses panel data for eight states of the Brazilian Amazon, from 1980 to 1998, to estimate a model of the determinants of crop area and cattle herd expansion within the region. Results show that the expansion of crop area is determined by changes in land prices, government agriculture credit and roads while the growth of cattle herd is mainly driven by the decrease in the price of cattle head and the expansion of the road network. O desflorestamento na Amazônia aumentou significativamente durante os últimos 20 anos. Aproximadamente 400.000 km2 de florestas tropicais foram devastados entre 1978 e 1998, sendo a sua maioria convertida em pastagens e lavouras. Este trabalho usa dados de painel de oito estados da Amazônia, de 1980 a 1998, para estimar um modelo dos determinantes da expansão da área plantada e de cabeças de gado na região. Os resultados mostram que a expansão da área plantada está associada a variações de preços da terra, crédito agrícola e estradas, enquanto o aumento do número de cabeças de gado está determinado principalmente pela redução do preço do boi e pela expansão da malha rodoviária.

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  • Claudio Ferraz, 2015. "Explaining Agriculture Expansion and Deforestation: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon – 1980/98," Discussion Papers 0106, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0106
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    1. Araujo, Claudio & Combes, Jean-Louis & Féres, José Gustavo, 2019. "Determinants of Amazon deforestation: the role of off-farm income," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 138-156, April.
    2. Rodolfo Prates & Carlos Bacha, 2012. "An Econometric Study Of Deforestation In The Brazil’S Amazonian Municipalities," ERSA conference papers ersa12p651, European Regional Science Association.
    3. Pereira, Matheus W. Gomes & Teixeira, Erly Cardoso & Gurgel, Ângelo Costa, 2009. "Economic Loss to the Brazilian Regions Due to the Doha Round Failure," Conference papers 331848, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    4. Jorge Hargrave & Krisztina Kis-Katos, 2013. "Economic Causes of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: A Panel Data Analysis for the 2000s," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(4), pages 471-494, April.
    5. Jorge Hargrave Gonçalves da Silva, 2011. "Economic Causes ofDeforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: an Empirical Analysis of the2000s," Anais do XXXVII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 37th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 190, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].

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