DETER-ing Deforestation in the Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement
研究巴西利用卫星监测系统DETER实时预警森林砍伐，通过创新工具变量法证明监测与执法能有效遏制亚马逊森林砍伐，对环保政策制定者有价值。
We study Brazil's recent use of satellite technology to overcome law enforcement shortcomings resulting from weak institutional environments. DETER is a system that processes satellite imagery and issues near-real-time deforestation alerts to target environmental enforcement in the Amazon. We propose a novel instrumental variable approach for estimating enforcement's impact on deforestation. Clouds limiting DETER's capacity to detect clearings serve as a source of exogenous variation for the presence of environmental authorities. Findings indicate that monitoring and enforcement effectively curb deforestation. Results hold across several robustness checks.