Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/113923 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
Nota di Lavoro No. 20.2015
Publisher: 
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milano
Abstract: 
More cattle, less deforestation? Land use intensification in the Amazon is an unexpected phenomenon. Theories of hollow frontier, speculative behaviour and boom-bust all share the prediction that livestock production will remain largely extensive. Yet between 1996 and 2006 productivity of cattle grew by an astounding 57.5% in the average Amazon municipality. Does rising land productivity of cattle increase deforestation? I use secondary data and spatial econometrics to look for evidence of a positive relation between cattle intensification and deforestation (‘rebound effect'). The reduced-form model I employ is based on a spatial econometric specification by Arima et al. (2011) and uses panel data at the municipality-level. I show that mounting productivity in consolidated areas has been associated with lower deforestation both in frontier and consolidated municipalities. This suggests that any process of out-migration spurred by the rising productivity is insufficient to have a positive impact on deforestation.
Subjects: 
Amazon
Rebound Effect
Intensification
Deforestation
Land Use
Cattle Ranching
JEL: 
Q53
Q15
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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