Technical change in agriculture and homicides: The case of genetically-modified soy seeds in Brazil

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the effects of the introduction of a labor-saving technology in agriculture on violence, by examining the case of the adoption of genetically-modified soy seeds in Brazil. Previous literature has shown that this technological change leads to job displacement, increases in land conflicts and gender inequality. We show that the effects also spread to homicide rates, which increase significantly after the adoption of the modified soy seeds.