Land Reform Policies, the Sources of Violent Conflict, and Implications for Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

We examine land reform policies and their implications for violent conflict and resource use in the Brazilian Amazon. We identify the protagonists (land owners and squatters), derive their incentives to use violence, and show the role of legal inconsistencies as a basis for conflict. We describe the government agency involved in land reform, INCRA, and show that its intervention critically affects the actions of both squatters and land owners. Further, we point out the incentives for deforestation under land reform and associated insecure property rights to land. Forested lands are vulnerable to invasion by squatters and redistribution by INCRA. Using data from the Brazilian census and the Pastoral Land Commission, we examine the characteristics of regions where violent conflict predominates.