Communal Property Rights and Deforestation

Almost a third of world’s forest area is under communal management. In principle, this arrangement could lead to a “tragedy of the commons” and therefore more deforestation. But monitoring outsider’s deforestation may be easier if the owner is a community rather than an individual. We study the effect of communal titling on deforestation in Colombia using a difference-in-discontinuities strategy that compares areas just outside and inside a title, before and after titling. We find that deforestation decreased in communal areas after titling. Interestingly, we find evidence of positive spillovers of reduced deforestation in nearby areas.

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