Data from: Governance, agricultural intensification and land sparing in tropical South America

In this paper we address two topical questions: How do the quality of governance and agricultural intensification impact on spatial expansion of agriculture? Which aspects of governance are more likely to ensure that agricultural intensification allows sparing land for nature? Using data from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, the World Database on Protected Areas, and the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, we estimate a panel data model for six South American countries and quantify the effects of major determinants of agricultural land expansion, including various dimensions of governance, over the period 1970–2006. The results indicate that the effect of agricultural intensification on agricultural expansion is conditional on the quality and type of governance. When considering conventional aspects of governance, agricultural intensification leads to an expansion of agricultural area when governance scores are high. When looking specifically at environmental aspects of governance, intensification leads to a spatial contraction of agriculture when governance scores are high, signaling a sustainable intensification process.本文围绕两大前沿议题展开研究：治理质量与农业集约化如何影响农业空间扩张？以及治理的哪些维度更有助于保障农业集约化能够为自然保留土地？本研究依托联合国粮食及农业组织（Food and Agriculture Organization，FAO）、世界银行（World Bank）、世界保护地数据库（World Database on Protected Areas）以及耶鲁大学环境法律与政策中心（Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy）的公开数据，针对6个南美国家构建面板数据模型（panel data model），量化了1970至2006年间农业土地扩张的主要影响因素（包含治理的多个维度）所产生的效应。研究结果表明，农业集约化对农业扩张的影响取决于治理质量与治理类型。当考量治理的常规维度时，若治理评分较高，农业集约化会导致农业用地面积扩张；若聚焦治理的环境维度，当治理评分较高时，农业集约化会引发农业空间收缩，这标志着可持续集约化进程的实现。