Relationship between openness to trade and deforestation: Empirical evidence from the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to investigate how international trade has affected the dynamics of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon at the level of the municipality. This analysis focuses on the expansion of crop and cattle activities, and other determinants of deforestation such as GDP, demographic density, and roads. We combine standard econometrics with spatial econometrics to capture the socioeconomic interactions among the agents in their interrelated economic system. The data used in this study correspond to a balanced panel of 732 municipalities from 2000 to 2007. The main findings suggest that as openness to trade in the Amazon increases, deforestation also increases. We also find that it is the production of soybeans, sugarcane, cotton, and beef cattle that drives deforestation in the region. As expected, firewood and timber extraction also has a significant impact in deforestation. Moreover, as the GDP goes up, deforestation increases. On the other hand, as the square of GDP goes up, deforestation decreases a finding that supports the environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. The production of non-wood products has a negative impact on deforestation. Unexpected results included the findings that population density had a negative impact on deforestation, and that distance from state capitols had no impact.

Logging Community-Based Forests in the Amazon: An Analysis of External Influences, Multi-Partner Governance, and Resilience

“…Since the 1960s, the Brazilian government has promoted and provided incentives for large-scale infrastructure projects such as hydroelectric power plants, mining, and roads, as well as settlement projects focused on agricultural production (different scales) and cattle ranching [17,44]. Currently, the major drivers of deforestation are soy and beef cattle production, while selective logging, fuelwood collection, and wildfires are the major causes of degraded forests in that region [10,45,46]. Selective logging and agribusiness supply foreign markets, particularly the United States and China [10,47], and both productive systems are based on intensive use of natural resources with negative impacts on family farming, indigenous people, and local community livelihoods [48].…”

Tariffs and Trees: The Effects of the Austro-Hungarian Customs Union on Specialization and Land-Use Change

“…The model predicts that in the short run, reductions in transport costs increase deforestation, but that in the long run the effects reverse. few articles use within-country estimates where it is difficult to separate out general time trends (Barbier 2000;Faria and de Almeida 2013). Our approach is unique in its ability to focus on the impacts of trade openness on various types of land use, including forest, pasture, and agriculture.…”

Uso del suelo y estructura de la vegetación en paisajes fragmentados en la Amazonia, Colombia

“…En el caso de los bosques amazónicos, la extracción de madera, la expansión de cultivos y las áreas de pastos dedicadas al pastoreo extensivo constituyen los principales motores de deforestación (Martino, 2007). Se ha sugerido que a medida que aumenta la apertura de comercio la deforestación también ha aumentado (Rodriguez y Nunes, 2016).…”

“…Por ejemplo, en la Amazonia brasilera y algunos sectores de la ecuatoriana, los principales ejes de deforestación son las carreteras (Rodriguez y Nunes, 2016); en Brasil se presenta una tendencia fuerte de deforestación influenciada por políticas sectoriales asociadas a hidrocarburos, infraestructura para la producción de energía y cultivos intensivos de soja y caña de azúcar (Martino, 2007); mientras que en Ecuador la palma africana para la obtención de aceite es el motor que impulsa la pérdida de bosques amazónicos (Potter, 2011). En países como Perú, Bolivia y Colombia se les suma los cultivos ilícitos como causantes de deforestación (Martino, 2007).…”