Epidemics and rapacity of multinational companies

Tommaso Sonno and Davide Zufacchi

CEP Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Performance, LSE

Abstract: Do multinationals engage in rent-seeking behaviour in developing countries during crises? With a difference in discontinuity approach, we use the Ebola epidemic in Liberia as a natural experiment on the sharp increase in deforestation, which produced a dramatic growth in newly planted palm oil trees and a 1428% increase in palm oil exports. We show that the probability of forest fire - the fastest way to clear forests and start new production - increased by 125% in the same period. Both effects are amplified in areas populated by ethnic minorities.

Keywords: epidemics; multinational enterprises; land grabbing; palm oil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-sea
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Working Paper: Epidemics and rapacity of multinational companies (2022)
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