DETER-ing Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 15,
no. 2, April 2023
(pp. 125-56)
Abstract
We study Brazil's recent use of satellite technology to overcome law enforcement shortcomings resulting from weak institutional environments. DETER is a system that processes satellite imagery and issues near-real-time deforestation alerts to target environmental enforcement in the Amazon. We propose a novel instrumental variable approach for estimating enforcement's impact on deforestation. Clouds limiting DETER's capacity to detect clearings serve as a source of exogenous variation for the presence of environmental authorities. Findings indicate that monitoring and enforcement effectively curb deforestation. Results hold across several robustness checks.Citation
Assunção, Juliano, Clarissa Gandour, and Romero Rocha. 2023. "DETER-ing Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 15 (2): 125-56. DOI: 10.1257/app.20200196Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- K32 Environmental, Energy, Health, and Safety Law
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- O13 Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
- Q23 Renewable Resources and Conservation: Forestry
- Q28 Renewable Resources and Conservation: Government Policy
- Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming
- Q58 Environmental Economics: Government Policy
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