In this paper we address two topical questions: How do the quality of governance and agricultural intensification impact on spatialexpansion of agriculture? Which aspects of governance are more likely to ensure that agricultural intensification allows sparing landfor nature? Using data from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, the World Database on Protected Areas, andthe Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, we estimate a panel data model for six South American countries and quantifythe effects of major determinants of agricultural land expansion, including various dimensions of governance, over the period 1970–2006. The results indicate that the effect of agricultural intensification on agricultural expansion is conditional on the quality andtype of governance. When considering conventional aspects of governance, agricultural intensification leads to an expansion ofagricultural area when governance scores are high. When looking specifically at environmental aspects of governance, intensificationleads to a spatial contraction of agriculture when governance scores are high, signaling a sustainable intensification process.
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