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DETERring more than Deforestation: Environmental Enforcement Reduces Violence in the Amazon

Rafael Araujo, Vitor Possebom, Gabriela Setti

Abstract

We estimate the impact of environmental law enforcement on violence in the Brazilian Amazon. The introduction of the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (DETER), which enabled the government to monitor deforestation in real time and issue fines for illegal clearing, significantly reduced homicides in the region. To identify causal effects, we exploit exogenous variation in satellite monitoring generated by cloud cover as an instrument for enforcement intensity. Our estimates imply that the expansion of state presence through DETER prevented approximately 1,477 homicides per year, a 15% reduction in homicides. These results show that curbing deforestation produces important social co-benefits, strengthening state presence and reducing violence in regions marked by institutional fragility and resource conflict.

DETERring more than Deforestation: Environmental Enforcement Reduces Violence in the Amazon

Abstract

We estimate the impact of environmental law enforcement on violence in the Brazilian Amazon. The introduction of the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (DETER), which enabled the government to monitor deforestation in real time and issue fines for illegal clearing, significantly reduced homicides in the region. To identify causal effects, we exploit exogenous variation in satellite monitoring generated by cloud cover as an instrument for enforcement intensity. Our estimates imply that the expansion of state presence through DETER prevented approximately 1,477 homicides per year, a 15% reduction in homicides. These results show that curbing deforestation produces important social co-benefits, strengthening state presence and reducing violence in regions marked by institutional fragility and resource conflict.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 43 sections, 10 equations, 2 figures, 15 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Crime, Environment, and Governance
  3. Violence in the Amazon
  4. Deforestation: Dynamics and Drivers
  5. Environmental Law Enforcement and Monitoring
  6. Conceptual Framework
  7. Data
  8. Homicide Rate
  9. Law Enforcement
  10. Cloud Coverage
  11. Other Controls
  12. Satellite Controls
  13. Weather Controls
  14. Socioeconomic Controls
  15. Descriptive Statistics
  16. ...and 28 more sections

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Homicide Rate: Municipalities in the Amazon Biome vs. Outside the Biome
  • Figure 2: Geographical distribution of key variables in 2006 within the Amazon biome