ISBN-13: 9783639031423 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 160 str.
ISBN-13: 9783639031423 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 160 str.
The Brazilian Amazon contains some of the world'smost biologically diverse ecosystems. Theseecosystems generate significant global benefits inthe form of ecosystem services, species habitats andenvironmental amenities. However, the land requiredto keep these ecosystems intact and the value ofnatural resources the Amazon could generate underalternative usage is substantial. This means that adecision not to convert these areas imposes highopportunity costs on the economy of a developingcountry as a whole, and on local populations with ahigh incidence of poverty and destitution inparticular. The importance of balancing thistrade-off has increasingly been recognised inBrazilian development policy. This book aims toinvestigate microeconomic issues related to land usein the Brazilian Amazon emphasizing theirrelationship with spatial processes of deforestationand regional development. After a brief descriptionof the region and the exploratory analysis of thedata used in the research, theoretical models andeconometric methods are adopted to address specificquestions in four essays.