An economic analysis of contracts for concession of public forests in Brazil

• Grant number: 12/11032-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2012
• End date: August 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - Agrarian and Natural Resource Economics
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Antonio Slaibe Postali
• Grantee: Rafael Carlquist Rabelo de Araujo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade (FEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Law 11.284/06 which established a regime of concessions for public forests to the private initiative has emerged as a result of the search for policies to combat deforestation, in a scenario of poor monitoring of forests. The economic rationale that underlies this model was consolidated in the article "The Tragedy of the Commons" by Garrett Hardin (1968), which states that the lack of property rights leads to an exploration level higher than what would be socially desired. This research intends to analyze incentives and tradeoffs involved in the concession regime adopted by the new law through the case study of the concessions contracts already made. Through this study, it is expected to contribute to the development of more efficient models of operation enabling the goal of the new Law to be reached: combining economic exploitation of the forests with their preservation.(AU)