Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sant'anna, André Albuquerque Title: Land inequality and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Journal: Environment and Development Economics Pages: 1-25 Issue: 1 Volume: 22 Year: 2017 Month: February Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between land concentration and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. It develops a conceptual framework in which an individual may have three alternatives: to be a farmer in an already established place, to be a rural worker, or to migrate to the agricultural frontier in order to deforest. This model implies that land inequality affects deforestation positively. Based on data from municipalities with positive deforestation from 2002 to 2011, a model has been estimated to test this theoretical prediction. By making use of an instrumental variable, results show that there is statistical evidence to support the existence of a direct relationship between land inequality and deforestation. Results are stronger for the period 2002–2005. This might be due to command and control policies which have significantly increased the cost of clearing land since the mid-2000s. File-URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1355770X1600022X/type/journal_article File-Function: link to article abstract page File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:22:y:2017:i:01:p:1-25_00 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lechthaler, Filippo Title: Economic growth and energy use during different stages of development: an empirical analysis Journal: Environment and Development Economics Pages: 26-50 Issue: 1 Volume: 22 Year: 2017 Month: February Abstract: This paper empirically investigates the effect of energy use on economic growth throughout different stages of development. Along with direct effects, energy is allowed to influence income growth indirectly by capital accumulation through input substitution. We find that energy use affects economic growth primarily through the capital channel and that this result varies substantially with regard to the country's income level. For middle-income countries including the quintet of large emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – an increase in energy use drives capital accumulation, which favors economic growth. On the contrary, for high-income countries, a higher energy input tends to withdraw productive resources from capital accumulation, harming economic growth. Considering these differences, policy measures aiming at restricting energy consumption should be evaluated against the background of a region's stage of economic development. File-URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1355770X16000243/type/journal_article File-Function: link to article abstract page File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:22:y:2017:i:01:p:26-50_00 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nakada, Minoru Title: Distance to hazard: an environmental policy with income heterogeneity Journal: Environment and Development Economics Pages: 51-65 Issue: 1 Volume: 22 Year: 2017 Month: February Abstract: This study examines whether voting by individuals of different income levels affects the stringency of environmental policy if their residential proximity to a pollution source is considered. A location model with heterogeneous agents is extended to include a single environmentally hazardous site at the edge of a linear city and the degree of damage from pollution is assumed to depend on the distance from this emissions site. The analysis demonstrates through majority voting that the equilibrium emissions tax rate is higher when the income level of the median voter is lower, because residents with low incomes reside near the hazardous site and thus benefit more from pollution abatement than residents with higher incomes. File-URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1355770X16000231/type/journal_article File-Function: link to article abstract page File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:22:y:2017:i:01:p:51-65_00 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Biswas, Amit K. Author-Name: Thum, Marcel Title: Corruption, environmental regulation and market entry Journal: Environment and Development Economics Pages: 66-83 Issue: 1 Volume: 22 Year: 2017 Month: February Abstract: The authors develop a simple analytical framework to study the welfare-maximizing environmental standards when market entry is endogenous and firms can circumvent regulation by bribing corrupt officials. Corruption changes the tradeoff in environmental policy. Corruption leads more polluting firms to enter into the market, which requires tighter environmental regulation. However, corruption also makes trading in some environmental protection for a marginally higher market entry optimal for the government. File-URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1355770X16000218/type/journal_article File-Function: link to article abstract page File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:22:y:2017:i:01:p:66-83_00 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Mohan, Preeya Author-Name: Strobl, Eric Title: A hurricane wind risk and loss assessment of Caribbean agriculture Journal: Environment and Development Economics Pages: 84-106 Issue: 1 Volume: 22 Year: 2017 Month: February Abstract: Hurricanes act as large external shocks potentially causing considerable damage to agriculture in the Caribbean. While a number of studies have estimated their historic economic impact, arguably the wider community and policy makers are more concerned about their future risk and potential losses, since this type of information is useful for disaster preparedness and mitigation strategy and policy. This paper implements a new approach to undertaking a quantitative wind risk and loss assessment of agriculture in Caribbean island economies. The authors construct an expected loss function that uses synthetically generated, and historical, hurricane tracks within a wind field model that takes cropland exposure derived from satellite data into consideration. The results indicate that expected wind losses are potentially large but vary considerably across the region, where the smaller islands are considerably more likely to be negatively impacted. Moreover, we find that the structure of the agricultural sector can be important in terms of vulnerability. File-URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1355770X16000176/type/journal_article File-Function: link to article abstract page File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:22:y:2017:i:01:p:84-106_00