In this paper we analyze the underlying determinants of rural land conflicts in Brazil involving squatters, landowners, the federal government, the courts and INCRA, the land reform agency. We present a model where squatters and landowners strategically choose to engage in violence to advance...

In this paper we examine land reform policies and their implications for violent conflict over land 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...

We extend the literature on interest group behavior and policy outcomes by examining how groups with limited resources (votes and campaign contributions) effectively influence government by manipulating media information to voters. Voters in turn lobby politicians to implement the group's...

Intro -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1. Settlement, Government Policy, and Property Rights in the Brazilian Amazon: Introduction and Implications for Frontiers Elsewhere in the World -- 2. A History of Land Policy in Brazil: The Assignment of Property Rights to Land and Land...

We extend the literature on interest group behavior and policy outcomes by examining how groups with limited resources (votes and campaign contributions) effectively influence government by manipulating media information to voters. Voters in turn lobby politicians to implement the group's...

In this paper we examine how an interest group with limited resources (votes and campaign contributions) nevertheless effectively influenced political policy through the control of information to general voters. Voters in turn lobbied politicians to take actions desired by the interest group....

Settlement, government policy, and property rights in the Brazilian Amazon : introduction and implications for frontiers elsewhere in the world -- A history of land policy in Brazil : the assignment of property rights to land and land reform -- Current land policies : the politics and economics...