Elections on Fire: The Effects of Fires on Political Behavior in Brazil

The Institute of Economics will hold a seminar meeting as part of its Seminar Series on Tuesday, January 25, 2022: Silvia Pianta from the European University Institute will present the paper "Elections on Fire: The Effects of Fires on Political Behavior in Brazil".

Abstract:

Forest and ecosystem preservation can play a crucial role in global climate mitigation efforts. As 60 percent of the Amazon and 12 percent of the total world’s forest area are located in Brazil, Brazilian voters are uniquely positioned to influence policies that can substantially contribute to the global fight against climate change. This paper investigates the impact of fires on political behavior in Brazil. Fires are often intentionally set for land grabbing and to expand land available for pasture and crop production. However, fires can get out of control and spread much beyond what fire setters initially expected, affecting broad segments of the population that do not benefit economically from them. Fires can therefore also be expected to increase environmental concern and to shift political attitudes by increasing the salience of environmental degradation. By exploiting exogenous variation in fires caused by weather conditions, we investigate whether fires increase support for green party candidates. We further examine how the impact of fires on political behavior is shaped by the local population’s reliance on the agriculture and livestock sector.

The seminar will be held in blended mode. In person participation is possible and available seats are allocated on a first come first served basis. For online participation please use the following link.