The deforestation effects of trade and agricultural productivity in Brazil

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Carreira, Igor; Costa, Francisco; Pessoa, Joao Paulo
• 署名单位: University of British Columbia; University of Delaware; Getulio Vargas Foundation
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103217
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: deforestation; Agricultural productivity; TRADE; TECHNOLOGY; Soy; BRAZIL

摘要

This paper quantifies the relative footprint of trade and agricultural productivity on deforestation across Brazilian municipalities between 2000 and 2017. Using remote-sensing data, we identify distinct effects of these two phenomena on land use. Greater exposure to new genetically engineered soy seeds is associated with faster deforestation through cropland expansion. We find no significant association between local exposure to Chinese demand and deforestation, but exposure to trade with China mitigates the deforestation impacts from the new soy technology. Our findings suggest that, when considered together, productivity gains altering municipalities' comparative advantage played a more significant role in driving deforestation across Brazil than Chinese demand alone.