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Down the River: Glyphosate Use in Agriculture and Birth Outcomes of Surrounding Populations

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  • Mateus Dias
  • Rudi Rocha
  • Rodrigo R Soares

Abstract

This paper documents an externality from the agricultural use of the most widely applied herbicide in the world—glyphosate—on birth outcomes of surrounding populations. We focus on the subclinical effects of water contamination in areas distant from the original locations of application. Our identification relies on: (i) the regulation allowing the introduction of genetically modified seeds in Brazil; (ii) the potential gain in municipality-level productivity from adoption of genetically modified soybean seeds and the strong complementary between these seeds and glyphosate; and (iii) the direction of water flow within water basins. We document a significant deterioration in birth outcomes for populations downstream from locations that are likely to have increased relatively more the use of glyphosate. According to our preferred specification, the average increase in glyphosate use in the sample during 2000–10 period led to an increase of 5% of the average in infant mortality rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Mateus Dias & Rudi Rocha & Rodrigo R Soares, 2023. "Down the River: Glyphosate Use in Agriculture and Birth Outcomes of Surrounding Populations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(6), pages 2943-2981.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:90:y:2023:i:6:p:2943-2981.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/restud/rdad011
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    Cited by:

    1. Bequet, Ludovic, 2021. "Agricultural productivity and land inequality. Evidence from the Philippines," MPRA Paper 108131, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Mounu Prem & Juan F. Vargas & Daniel Mejía, 2023. "The Rise and Persistence of Illegal Crops: Evidence from a Naive Policy Announcement," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(2), pages 344-358, March.
    3. Ludovic Bequet, 2022. "Agricultural productivity and land inequality. Evidence from the Philippines," DeFiPP Working Papers 2203, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    4. Tim Friehe & Eric Langlais & Elisabeth Schulte, 2019. "Product liability when cumulative harm is incurred by both consumers and third parties," Working Papers hal-04141859, HAL.
    5. Stefano Falcone & Michele Rosenberg, 2022. "Agricultural Modernization and Land Conflict," Working Papers 1314, Barcelona School of Economics.
    6. Kazuki Motohashi, 2023. "Unintended Consequences of Sanitation Investment: Negative Externalities on Water Quality and Health in India," ISER Discussion Paper 1210, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    7. Moreno-Louzada, Luca & Menezes-Filho, Naercio, 2024. "Technical change in agriculture and homicides: The case of genetically-modified soy seeds in Brazil," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    8. von der Goltz, Jan & Dar, Aaditya & Fishman, Ram & Mueller, Nathaniel D. & Barnwal, Prabhat & McCord, Gordon C., 2020. "Health Impacts of the Green Revolution: Evidence from 600,000 births across the Developing World," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Tim Friehe & Eric Langlais & Elisabeth Schulte, 2022. "Firm Liability When Third Parties and Consumers Incur Cumulative Harm," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(1), pages 53-71, January.
    10. Fletcher, Jason & Noghanibehambari, Hamid, 2024. "The siren song of cicadas: Early-life pesticide exposure and later-life male mortality," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Glyphosate; Herbicides; Birth outcomes; Infant mortality; Water; Externalities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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