Property Rights and Land Use on the Brazilian Frontier: Analysis and Lessons from U.S. Economic History

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The purpose of this research is to analyze the property rights system and land use on the Brazilian frontier. The Brazilian frontier, especially the Amazon region, has been the focus of world-wide attention owing to concerns about the rapid destruction of the rainforest and the loss of soil nutrients when these lands are converted to agriculture. The Amazon represents the largest remaining tropical rainforest stand in the world, and its loss or severe depletion could have serious effects on global warming and biodiversity. Further, Brazil is one of the largest and most influential developing countries and it faces many of the problems endemic in development--rapid population growth and corresponding pressures to raise standards of living, for land reform, and at the same time for protection of the environment. This project will entail the assembly and analysis of land tenure policies in Brazil beginning the 1940's. These policies will then be compared to land tenure and the expansion of the U.S. frontier during the 1800's. The project will construct measures of land tenure uncertainty and analyze these tenure conditions in four Brazilian states from 1940-1980, and six Amazon states from 1960-1985 using the Brazilian Agricultural census. Particular attention will be paid to the effects of land tenure uncertainty on agricultural investment, the use of fertilizers, the value of permanent structures, and the extent to which permanent crops were grown.