Economics

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Shiv Nadar University

(SoHSS) School of Humanities and Social Sciences

World University root node

Handbook of Environmental Accounting

Dynamic endogenous risk and social accounting

In this paper, using a stylized mathematical simulation model, the participation of farmers in spot and options markets is analyzed in a two-period setting. Farmers assess the benefits from entering one of the two markets based upon anticipated water supplies in a subsequent period and relative expected profits in water and agricultural markets. The supply of water for urban use is a function of uncertain weather conditions and water demands for agricultural uses. The analysis offers insights on water market participation by deriving conditions that favor spot or options market participation. The findings highlight the importance of market size, agricultural profitability, and other parameters in predicting the potential success of spot and options market formation. © 2010 ASCE.

Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management

Factors affecting participation in spot and options markets for water

This paper explores how an individual's participation in higher education is dependent on her religious affiliations, socio-economic status and demographic characteristics. It argues that an appropriate measure of "deficits" in participation should inform the nature and scope of affirmative action. The study emphasises the relevance, both for analytical examination and in policy formulation, of distinguishing between stock and flow measures of participation and of recognising the differences (or imbalances) in the eligibility for higher education across groups. On isolating the effect of socio-religious affiliation from other factors that may influence participation in higher education, what emerges is a suggestion that the deficits faced by some marginalised groups are not substantial. If reservation policy for these groups is to be justified only on the basis of low participation, it may require a review.

Economic and Political Weekly

Who participates in higher education in India? Rethinking the role of affirmative action

This paper develops a conceptual model to link social norms and social capital with key socio-ecological characteristics of small scale economies in order to derive implications for the sustainability of natural resources and survival of these economies. Specifically, the extent of punishment required to deter defection is derived as a function of group size, rewards from defection, resource stock, and the risk of groundwater loss. Social norms which ordain collective participation and punishments can be endogenous, dynamic, and exhibit resilience. The implication of these possibilities on the sustainability of small scale economies is also evaluated. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research

Social norms, social capital, and the sustainability of small scale economies

Sustained droughts coupled with increasing pressure from urbanization severely test the ability of farmers to continue in agriculture. Understanding farmers' resilience to such pressures is increasingly becoming a significant policy concern. In this paper, a new measure of resilience to severe and sustained droughts in agriculture is derived as the ability to continue farming by saving and carrying forward water through the adoption of water efficient technology. In addition, the role of behavioral factors-such as subjective risk perception over the probability of droughts, of the probability of land getting urbanized, and of resistance to revising beliefs over water scarcity situation-in determining farmers' resilience to droughts is explored. Findings highlight the key role played by behavioral factors in influencing the decision to adopt when the economic factors, such as the price of water, do not capture the true opportunity costs of water. The range of available technological options is found to be crucial too, as marginal improvements in technology do not encourage adoption. An empirical application to the case of lettuce farming in Western Australia reveals that in the presence of speculative benefits from land rezoning, technological adoption is done only for enhancing profits in agriculture and not for improving resilience to droughts. Land rezoning possibilities may further distort technology adoption decisions, thereby, reducing resilience to droughts. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fulltext

Natural Resource Modeling

Drought resilience in agriculture: The role of technological options, land use dynamics, and risk perception

This paper explores the role of risk perceptions in influencing public policy related to global warming. It solves for the optimal paths for emissions, abatement and investment in pollution-eliminating research by incorporating perceived risks into public decision making. It also compares the impact of differential risk perceptions on international collaboration on carbon abatement. Key findings are that the perception of risks related to environmental damages and technological breakthroughs plays an important role in determining the level of mitigation efforts. A high level of perceived risk of environmental damages discourages investment in pollution-eliminating research as there are few benefits from eliminating pollution after damages are realized. Other options that allow for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere may still remain viable. Another key finding is that when it comes to effort sharing between nations, differential mitigation efforts are primarily caused due to the differences in abatement technology, benefits from emissions and research capabilities. However, such differences could be accentuated or mitigated depending upon the differences in risk perception of developed and developing countries. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

The future of global warming: Will it be emissions control or environmental damages?

Journal of Environmental Management

Introduction: Special issue on the economics of invasive species management

In this paper we examine the optimal management of a renewable resource that is at risk from alien species invasion. The objective of this paper is to derive implications for optimal management of a resource when options exist for both preventing the arrival of an invasive species and mitigating the impact of that arrival. Uncertainty about the timing and nature of an invasion can have important implications for the choice of management strategy, and a key feature of this analysis is an explicit treatment of that uncertainty. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimal renewable resource management in the presence of endogenous risk of invasion

This paper derives the optimal level of restorative efforts required to restore environments degraded by invasive species invasion. Specific attention is focused on a case when restoration faces the risk of failure through relapse of the restored environment caused by repeat invasions. The level of restored environment may also play a role in its future improvement or susceptibility to failure. The tradeoff between the optimal level of environmental quality and number of restorative efforts required to attain that given environmental quality is highlighted. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental restoration of invaded ecosystems: How much versus how often?

The relevance and implications of the environmental Kuznets hypothesis are examined in the presence of stock effects and non-linearities associated with pollution generation. Stock effects lead to hysteresis and irreversibilities in environmental quality that are overlooked when emphasis is placed on the flow effects of pollutants only. It is demonstrated here that an optimal growth plan in the presence of stock effects shifts the focus away from prescribing economic growth as a panacea for environmental ills. Implications for currently industrializing economies are discussed. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.