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To Burn a Slum: Urban Land Conflicts and the Use of Arson against Favelas

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  • Rafael Pucci

Abstract

This paper investigates the understudied phenomenon of urban land conflicts in contexts with weak enforcement of property rights. I examine, both theoretically and empirically, the use of arson as a violent tool to force slum removal from high-value land in cities. Leveraging fine-grained geocoded data, I employ panel regression and Difference-in-Differences analyses to demonstrate that the probability of slum fires dramatically increases with rising land prices. This effect is nonlinear and driven exclusively by slums situated on private lands, highlighting the role of high-powered incentives behind arson. These results illustrate how urban land conflicts can have different outcomes than their rural counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Pucci, 2024. "To Burn a Slum: Urban Land Conflicts and the Use of Arson against Favelas," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2024_13, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    • Handle: RePEc:spa:wpaper:2024wpecon13
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    File URL: http://www.repec.eae.fea.usp.br/documentos/Pucci_12WP.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urban Land Conflict; Slums; Arson; Violence; Property Rights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

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