Estimating the Long-term Effects of a Fruit Fly Eradication Program Using Satellite Imagery

This analysis applies a regression discontinuity approach combined with remote sensing data to measure the productivity impacts linked to a fruit-fly eradication program, implemented in Peru. For this purpose, satellite imagery was used to estimate a vegetation index over a 10-year span for a sample of 305 producers -155 treated and 150 controls-. The results confirmed that program participation increased agricultural productivity in the short and long terms, in a range from 12% to 49%. However, quantile regression methods suggest that most productive farmers were able to obtain greater impacts.