World Bank Environment Paper No. 11.Addresses issues of local governance in frontier economies in relation to environmental and political sustainability. Covers problems of mining, farming, and disincentives.

World Bank Environment Paper No. 11.Addresses issues of local governance in frontier economies in relation to environmental and political sustainability. Covers problems of mining, farming, and disincentives.

This provocative new book presents the results of twenty years of research on deforestation in the Amazon. By carefully observing the changing character of human settlements and their association with deforestation over such a prolonged period, the author is able to reject much of the 'perceived wisdom'.

The Economics of Land Use brings together the most significant journal essays in key areas of contemporary agricultural, food and resource economics and land use policy. The editors provide a state-of-the-art overview of the topic and access to the economic literature that has shaped contemporary perspectives on land use analysis and policy.

Concluding chapters review the roles of the newer institutional landowners, of smaller private and farm landowners, and of public agencies.

Nearly 90 percent of agricultural land in the Brazilian Amazon is used for pasture, or has been cleared and left unused. Pasture on average is used with very low productivity. Analysis based on census tract data shows that agricultural conversion of forested areas in the wetter western Amazon would be even less productive, using current technologies.