Deforestation, Land Use, and Property Rights: Empirical Evidence from Darien, Panama

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Abstract
Economic conventional wisdom suggests that providing land users with more secure property rights will result in more sustainable land use and less deforestation. In this paper, we use spatial econometric techniques to evaluate quantitatively the effect on land use of designated property rights in three parts of Darién province––a national park where no human activity is supposed to occur, and two reserves for indigenous peoples. Results suggest that legal property rights for an indigenous population can influence land use. Geography appears to be more important than legal protection for the national park. (JEL Q15, Q23)

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