Municipal Responses to Ecological Fiscal Transfers in Brazil: A microeconometric panel data approach

摘要

Ecological fiscal transfers in Brazil, the so-called ICMS-Ecologico or ICMS-E, redistribute part of the state-level value-added tax revenues on the basis of ecological indicators to local governments. We analyze whether the introduction of this economic instrument in a state offers incentives to municipal responses in terms of further protected area (PA) designation. We provide a microeconomic model for the functioning of ICMS-E and test the derived hypothesis empirically. Employing an econometric analysis on panel data for two decades we estimate the correlation of the introduction of ICMS-E in Brazilian states with PA coverage. We find that the introduction of ICMS-E correlates with a higher average PA share. While the introduction of ICMS-E schemes may be a compensation for a high share of federal and state PA, we also find an incentive effect for municipalities to designate additional PA. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment