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Getting greener by going black: the effect of blacklisting municipalities on Amazon deforestation

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  • Assunção, Juliano
  • Rocha, Romero

Abstract

In 2008, the Brazilian government blacklisted municipalities in the Amazon to better target efforts to repress deforestation. Not only were law enforcement and monitoring activities intensified, but also economic sanctions and political pressures were imposed on those municipalities. We use a differences-in differences approach to compare deforestation reduction in blacklisted municipalities and non-blacklisted municipalities. We find that: (i) the blacklisting has significantly reduced deforestation; and (ii) this effect was primarily driven by the monitoring and law enforcement channel – there is no effect on agricultural production or credit concessions.

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  • Assunção, Juliano & Rocha, Romero, 2019. "Getting greener by going black: the effect of blacklisting municipalities on Amazon deforestation," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 115-137, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:24:y:2019:i:02:p:115-137_00
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    1. Magalhães de Oliveira, Gustavo & Sellare, Jorge & Cisneros, Elias & Börner, Jan, 2024. "Mind your language: Political signaling and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Discussion Papers 333334, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    2. Maria Alice Moz-Christofoletti & Paula Carvalho Pereda & Wesley Campanharo, 2022. "Does Decentralized and Voluntary Commitment Reduce Deforestation? The Effects of Programa Municípios Verdes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(1), pages 65-100, May.
    3. Damm, Yannic & Cisneros, Elías & Börner, Jan, 2024. "Beyond Deforestation Reductions: Public Disclosure, Land-Use Change and Commodity Sourcing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    4. Miranda, Bruno Varella & de Oliveira, Gustavo Magalhães, 2023. "Assessing the performance of voluntary environmental agreements under high monitoring costs: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    5. Sills, Erin & Pfaff, Alexander & Andrade, Luiza & Kirkpatrick, Justin & Dickson, Rebecca, 2020. "Investing in local capacity to respond to a federal environmental mandate: Forest & economic impacts of the Green Municipality Program in the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Preto, Mayra de Freitas & Garcia, Andrea Santos & Nakai, Érica Silva & Casarin, Laura Piacentini & Vilela, Vívian Maria de Faria Nasser & Ballester, Maria Victoria Ramos, 2022. "The role of environmental legislation and land use patterns on riparian deforestation dynamics in an Amazonian agricultural frontier (MT, Brazil)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    7. André Albuquerque Sant’Anna & Lucas Costa, 2019. "Bailing out environmental liabilities: moral hazard and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Documentos de Trabajo 17435, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA).
    8. Reis, G.G. & Heidemann, M.S. & Goes, H.A.A. & Molento, C.F.M., 2021. "Can radical innovation mitigate environmental and animal welfare misconduct in global value chains? The case of cell-based tuna," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    9. René Poccard-Chapuis & Sophie Plassin & Reinis Osis & Daniel Pinillos & Gustavo Martinez Pimentel & Marcelo Cordeiro Thalês & François Laurent & Mario Rodrigo de Oliveira Gomes & Laura Angelica Ferrei, 2021. "Mapping Land Suitability to Guide Landscape Restoration in the Amazon," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-24, April.
    10. dos Santos Massoca, Paulo Eduardo & Brondízio, Eduardo Sonnewend, 2022. "National policies encounter municipal realities: A critical analysis of the outcomes of the List of Priority Municipalities in curbing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    11. Juliano Assuncao & Robert McMillan & Joshua Murphy & Eduardo Souza-Rodrigues, 2019. "Optimal Environmental Targeting in the Amazon Rainforest," Working Papers tecipa-631, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    12. Albuquerque Sant'Anna, André & Costa, Lucas, 2021. "Environmental regulation and bail outs under weak state capacity: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon11The authors gratefully acknowledge Antonio Ambrózio, Juliano Assunção, Arthur Bragança, Filipe ," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    13. Léa Crepin, 2022. "Do forest conservation policies undermine the soybean sector in the Brazilian Amazon? Evidence from the blacklisting of municipalities," Working Papers 2022.07, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    14. Bragança, Arthur & Dahis, Ricardo, 2022. "Cutting special interests by the roots: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    15. Moffette, Fanny & Skidmore, Marin & Gibbs, Holly K., 2021. "Environmental policies that shape productivity: Evidence from cattle ranching in the Amazon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

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