Deforestation and Infant Health: Evidence from an Environmental Conservation Policy in Brazil

This study provides evidence of a negative externality of deforestation in infant health. As an identification strategy, we exploit the introduction of a change in the forest policy that caused a marked reduction in deforestation in the Amazon region of Brazil. We demonstrate that this forest policy reduced the rates of preterm birth and low birth weight in those municipalities that were (potentially) exposed to the intervention. Importantly, our results are insensitive to a variety of robustness exercises.