Agricultural Economics Department
Date of this Version
2019
Citation
Silva, F. de F., L. E. Fulginiti, and R. K. Perrin.The Cost of Forest Preservation in the Brazilian Amazon: The “Arc of Deforestation”, Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 44(3):497–512.
doi: 10.22004/ag.econ.292328
Abstract
We estimate the trade-off between agricultural production and forest preservation for the municipalities in Brazil’s agricultural frontier, the so-called “arc of deforestation,” using census and deforestation data for 2006. We use a nonparametric directional output distance function that allows us to identify the gradients of the production possibility frontier, which are the trade-offs of interest. We found that, on average, $979 is forgone in annual livestock, timber, and grain revenues to conserve 1 hectare of forest. This translates, ceteris paribus, to an average present value of costs to permanently sequester CO2 of $16.36/t, higher than most previous estimates.
Included in
Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Natural Resource Economics Commons, Sustainability Commons
Comments
Copyright 2019 Western Agricultural Economics Association