Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
We study Brazil's recent use of satellite technology to overcome law enforcement shortcomings resulting from weak institutional environments. DETER is a system that processes satellite imagery and issues near-real-time deforestation alerts to target environmental enforcement in the Amazon. We propose a novel instrumental variable approach for estimating enforcement's impact on deforestation. Clouds limiting DETER's capacity to detect clearings serve as a source of exogenous variation for the presence of environmental authorities. Findings indicate that monitoring and enforcement effectively curb deforestation. Results hold across several robustness checks.