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 environme...

本研究聚焦两大核心议题：治理质量与农业集约化如何影响农业空间扩张？何种治理维度更能确保农业集约化可为自然保护预留土地？本研究采用联合国粮食及农业组织（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）的相关数据，针对6个南美国家构建面板数据模型，量化1970—2006年间农业用地扩张的主要影响因素效应，其中涵盖多维度治理水平相关变量。研究结果显示，农业集约化对农业扩张的影响取决于治理的质量与类型。当考量常规治理维度时，若治理评分较高，农业集约化会推动农地面积扩张；而当专门聚焦环境类治理维度时...