Did the Soy Moratorium reduce deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon? : a counterfactual analysis of the impact of the Soy Moratorium on deforestation in the Amazon Biome
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of the Soy Moratorium (SoyM) on deforestation in the \nBrazilian Amazon biome. We study 39 municipalities in Mato Grosso that are divided by the \nnatural biome border between the Amazon biome that was affected by the SoyM and the \nCerrado biome, which was not affected by the SoyM during 2003-2013. To quantify the impact \nof the SoyM on deforestation, we perform a Difference in Difference analysis that we estimate \nwith a fixed effects model. Using the Cerrado as the counterfactual, we are able to compare the \ndifference between the actual change in deforestation in the Amazon to what the change in \ndeforestation would have been without the implementation of the SoyM. The results from our \nDID analysis suggest that the SoyM had a significant impact on deforestation in the Amazon \nonly after it was enforced with satellite monitoring from 2008. We find that deforestation in \nthe Amazon decreased by an additional 24.6 percent compared to the Cerrado as a result of \nsatellite monitoring, which his is equivalent to 430 km² of preserved forest cover and roughly \n4.8 million tons of carbon were saved from being released in the atmosphere. However, from \nour graphical RD analysis we do not observe a discontinuity around the biome border, which \ndoes not support our findings from the DID analysis.
Source: BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway))
Authors: Joakim Svahn, Dominik Brunner
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2895521294