Banca de DEFESA: Rodrigo Fernandes Gonçalves

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : Rodrigo Fernandes Gonçalves
DATE: 05/10/2022
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: A defesa será realizada por videoconferência
TITLE:

Econometrics for environmental policy evaluation: Analysis of the ”Priority Municipalities” policy in the Brazilian Amazon.

KEY WORDS:

Environmental Public Policy, Econometrics, Staggered Difference-in-Difference, Propensity Score Matching.

PAGES: 65
BIG AREA: Ciências Sociais Aplicadas
AREA: Economia
SUMMARY:

The present work intends to understand if the Brazilian policy of blacklisting municipalities,
in the Amazon region, was effective when created in 2008, and how it evolved over the
years, until 2019. To do so, we applied econometrics methods. For the first question,
difference-in-differences with propensity score matching was our choice, with deforestation
increase divided by municipal area as our dependent variable. We found that when controlling
for covariates and using fixed effects, the policy was effective to decrease deforestation.
Specifically, when listed, municipalities decreased deforestation per km2 by around 0.003. For
the second question, we utilized difference-in-differences again, but with staggered treatment.
We employed two contemporary staggered diff-in-diff variations. In general, we found again
that the policy was successful in 2008, 2009 and 2012, but its effect decreased over time. In
2016 forward, the policy was no longer efficient. Additionally, for robustness, we answered
both questions with different dependent variables, precisely: normalized and log-transformed
deforestation increase. Even then, the policy seems to be useful. Next, we tried to explore
the reasons behind the policy change. Our findings suggest that political alliances and the
resource allocation focused on environmental conservation impacted the policy. Finally, we
state some flaws and limitations of the paper, pointing opportunities for future studies and
practical recommendations.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - ANDRÉ ALBUQUERQUE SANT’ANNA
Interno - 993687 - MARCELO DE OLIVEIRA TORRES
Interna - 2262223 - MARINA DELMONDES DE CARVALHO ROSSI
Interno - 1981130 - RAFAEL TERRA DE MENEZES