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dc.titleLong-Term Effects of a Commodity Boom: Rubber Slavery in the Amazon
dc.contributor.authorAraujo, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorLaudares, Humberto
dc.contributor.authorMurillo, Dafne
dc.contributor.authorParedes, Hector
dc.contributor.authorValencia Caicedo, Felipe
dc.contributor.orgunitGender and Diversity Division
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageLatin America
dc.coverageAmazon Region
dc.date.available2025-11-11T00:11:00
dc.date.issue2025-11-11T00:11:00
dc.description.abstractCan a brief period of economic prosperity leave a legacy of long-term adversity for local populations? This study investigates the enduring impact of the Amazon rubber boom around 1900 on contemporary income, inequality, Indigenous groups presence, and forest conservation. Identification exploits variation in historical rubber suitability across municipalities and discontinuities around rubber concession boundaries. Municipalities with larger shares of rubber-suitable land experienced an initial economic surge, as evidenced by higher per capita GDP in the 1920 Census, but this prosperity was not sustained by 2010. Increased ethnic mixing, already visible in the 1872 Census, indicates that earlier economic expansion intensified contact with Indigenous groups. In the long run, rubber-suitable areas show lower population density, higher extinction of Indigenous groups, and greater income inequality. Consistent with the disproportionate violence and labor coercion inflicted on Indigenous groups, our Regression Discontinuity analysis further documents long-lasting environmental effects, with higher rates of deforestation, coca cultivation, and cattle raising in former rubber concession areas. Together, the results suggest that while the rubber boom generated short-term wealth, it left a legacy of persistent underdevelopment, social transformation, and environmental degradation.
dc.format.extent48
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013815
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Long-Term-Effects-of-a-Commodity-Boom-Rubber-Slavery-in-the-Amazon.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectEconomic Impact
dc.subjectConcessions
dc.subjectLabor
dc.subjectCommodity Price
dc.subjectRaw Material
dc.subjectMunicipal Government
dc.subjectIndigenous People
dc.subjectIndustry
dc.subjectLabor Force
dc.subject.jelcodeN36 - Latin America • Caribbean
dc.subject.jelcodeO15 - Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • Migration
dc.subject.jelcodeJ15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants • Non-labor Discrimination
dc.subject.jelcodeO13 - Agriculture • Natural Resources • Energy • Environment • Other Primary Products
dc.subject.jelcodeN56 - Latin America • Caribbean
dc.subject.jelcodeQ33 - Resource Booms
dc.subject.jelcodeD31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
dc.subject.keywordsCommodity Exploitation;Rubber;Amazon;indigenous peoples;Forced Labor;Persistence;Private Concessions;Economic history
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01764
idb.operationRG-T3729
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