Work

On the effects of wildfires on poverty in Bolivia

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of wildfire events on poverty and the labor market in Bolivia. To this end, we match data from NASA’s MODIS Collection-6 MCD64A1 burned area product with household surveys for the period 2005–2020. Similar neighboring municipalities are clustered using the max-p-region algorithm to achieve survey representativeness at granular geographical levels. The causal effects of wildfire events on poverty, household per capita income, and agricultural income are estimated using the Interactive Fixed Effects Counterfactual Estimator. We find a significant short-term increase in poverty following a wildfire event, explained by a temporary decline in household per capita income and agricultural labor income. This paper contributes to enhancing our understanding of how wildfires affect labor markets in developing economies.

Source: Journal of Development Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103494

Authors: Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza, Alejandro Puerta-Cuartas, Andrey Ramos

Institutions: World Bank, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Bank of Spain

Language: English

Topic: Income, Poverty, and Inequality

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: No poverty, Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,590