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Causal Forces of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: Does Size Matter?

Danilo Igliori, Eustáquio Reis, Diana Weinhold

[fevereiro de 2009]

Abstract: The economic literature on land use in developing countries has traditionally focused on efficiency and equity issues. In these studies, farm size is at central stage to explain variation in the economic performance, and political and social issues in rural areas. In this paper we attempt to empirically investigate the existence of this relationship. Using some traditional and some more recent econometric techniques and a comprehensive data set on land use in the Brazilian Amazon, we revisit the question of whether the size composition of agricultural establishments in the Amazon region plays a role in determining the rate of deforestation.