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.本研究旨在探讨两大核心议题：治理质量与农业集约化如何影响农业空间扩张？哪些治理维度更能保障农业集约化实现自然用地留存？本研究依托粮食及农业组织（Food and Agriculture Organization）、世界银行（World Bank）、世界保护区数据库（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）的数据集，针对6个南美国家构建面板数据模型，量化1970年至2006年间农业土地扩张的主要驱动因素效应，其中涵盖多维度治理指标。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：当考量常规治理维度时，若治理得分较高，农业集约化会推动农业用地扩张；而当聚焦治理的环境维度时，若治理得分较高，农业集约化则会引发农业空间收缩，这一现象标志着可持续集约化进程的实现。