Social and Ecological Determinants of Land Clearing in the Brazilian Amazon: A Spatial Analysis
نویسندگان
چکیده
While tropical land clearing in the Brazilian Amazon provides for the livelihoods of Brazilians from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, it also contributes to changes in climatological and ecological processes at a variety of scales. To develop sustainable approaches that balance the needs of forest users with ecological requirements, further study is needed to investigate the root causes of tropical land clearing. This study uses novel and systematic spatial econometric techniques to estimate the effects of ecosystem productivity, as measured by soil fertility and climate, and strategic interactions on municipal-level land clearing in the Legal Amazon of Brazil between 1970 and 1995. We find a negative relationship between soil fertility and land clearing. Furthermore, there is evidence of positive spatial interactions across municipalities in most specifications.
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