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The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between land inequality and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Therefore, it is developed an occupational choice model where an individual decides whether to become a farmer in an already established place or to move in search of economic opportunities and land to clear at the agricultural frontier. This model provides theoretical predictions that are tested empirically. Based on data from 515 municipalities, this paper estimates a Tobit model in order to test the theoretical predictions. Basically, it has been shown that there is little statistical evidence to support the existence of a direct relationship between land inequality and deforestation. Nevertheless, when one takes into account the effects of land inequality on deforestation through its interaction with credit and land reform policies, it can be shown that the pattern of land distribution, indeed, plays a role for deforestation. There is a positive relationship between credit and deforestation in more unequal places. Furthermore, this paper provides evidence that land reform in more unequal municipalities reduces deforestation. Hence, it is clear that there is a role for government to increase social welfare and reduce deforestation rates.

Over the last half-century, the role of women in society has changed substantially. However, the gender income gap and the difference in labor force participation persist.Other authors introduced the concept of identity from sociology and social psychology at the economic analysis and, based on this, we search less traditional factors for understanding this persistence. Extending analysis of others, we analyze the impact of gender social norms, focusing on the prescription that "a man should earn more than his wife" on social and economic results. Based on the Censuses for 1991, 2000, and 2010 we observed that for only 7 percent of married couples does the wife earn more than her husband. We found evidence that the wives with greater probability of earning more than their husbands are less likely to participate in the labor force. Once she does participate in the labor force, she has a higher probability of earning less than her potential income, working fewer hours, and having an informal job.---

In this paper we assess the effects of fire-related smoke on population health in the Brazilian Amazon. Our empirical strategy is based on a municipality-by-month fixed effects model, coupled with an instrumental variables approach that explores wind direction and smoke in surrounding areas in order to exogenously shift exposure to smoke at the locality. We find that exposure to smoke, measured by PM2.5 concentration levels, is robustly associated with an increase in hospital admissions for respiratory conditions. The effects are higher among children and the elderly, and increase non-linearly with pollution levels. Our benchmark estimates indicate that an increase of one standard deviation in PM2.5 is related to an increase of 1.5% of the monthly hospitalization rate for respiratory conditions. The latter estimate reaches 14% if monthly average PM2.5 crosses thresholds as high as 75µg/m 3 . We do not observe significant effects on hospitalization rates related to other health conditions nor on mortality rates.

Over the last half-century, the role of women in society has changed substantially. However, the gender income gap and the difference in labour force participation persist. Akerlof and Kranton introduce the concept of identity from sociology and social psychology at the economic analysis; based on this we search less traditional factors for understanding this persistence. We extend the analysis proposed by Bertrand et al. for Brazil. Specifically, we analyse the impact of gender identity, focusing on the prescription that 'a man should earn more than his wife' on social and economic results. Based on the Censuses for 1991, 2000, and 2010 we observed that for only 7 per cent of married couples does the wife earn more than her husband. We found evidence that the wives with greater probability of earning more than their husbands are less likely to participate in the labour force. Once she does participate in the labour force, she has a higher probability of earning less than her potential income, working fewer hours, and having an informal job.

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Did the threat of communism influence income distribution in developed capitalist economies during the Cold War? This article addresses this question by testing whether income inequality in OECD countries was related to events linked to the spread of communism—revolutions and Soviet interventions—around the world. We argue that the threat of the spread of communism acted as an incentive for the elites and governments to keep economic inequality low. This article provides an empirical contribution to the recent literature on inequality, which highlights the role of domestic institutions but ignores the role of the Cold War in redistributing income. We find a robust relationship between income inequality and the distance to communist events. The results, reinforced by cases studied, suggest that the spread of communism fostered income redistribution deals between domestic elites and workers. Finally, we show that these effects were reinforced by strong unions and the presence of strong communist parties.