Gender, land distribution, and who gets state funds to stop deforestation in Argentina

Abstract

Historically, land ownership has been skewed across gender and class lines. In recent times, gender mainstreaming and other policy interventions attempt to rectify past disparities by targeting women directly and generously. Is the distribution of forest PES also skewed by gender and land concentration? Or as a government intervention, do forest PES in Argentina have a compensatory effect in favor of women and small agricultural producers? We analyze a unique dataset from Argentina that includes the size of the land and gender of recipient, as well as whether beneficiaries are individuals or communities. Our study of PES disbursement in 22 of the Argentine provinces reveals that women owners at small and medium levels of land holdings receive a premium over men at equal levels of land concentration. We find our study results consistent with other past policy interventions in Argentina that favor women, as well as with recent research on women in natural resource management.