Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh
With growing pressure on groundwater resources, water-conserving technologies (WCTs) look especially promising as a method of agricultural adaptation and poverty alleviation. While private benefits of WCTs are increasingly understood, public benefits are not as clear as they may seem. Some research...
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2015
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150045 |
| _version_ | 1855532181413167104 |
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| author | Bhargava, Anil K. Lybbert, Travis J. Spielman, David J. |
| author_browse | Bhargava, Anil K. Lybbert, Travis J. Spielman, David J. |
| author_facet | Bhargava, Anil K. Lybbert, Travis J. Spielman, David J. |
| author_sort | Bhargava, Anil K. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | With growing pressure on groundwater resources, water-conserving technologies (WCTs) look especially promising as a method of agricultural adaptation and poverty alleviation. While private benefits of WCTs are increasingly understood, public benefits are not as clear as they may seem. Some research has highlighted behavioral responses and diffusion as social consequences of private adoption. This paper focuses on the geophysical complications that shape public benefits across landscapes, raising spatial considerations of the WCT adoption decision and optimal diffusion patterns that can inform policymakers with the dual objectives of cost-efficient natural resource conservation and poverty alleviation, particularly in light of increasingly erratic weather patterns attributed to climate change. We focus on India—the world’s largest user of groundwater—and build a spatially sensitive hydroeconomic model to capture the dynamics of public water availability due to WCT adoption. We consider the spatial aspects of hydrological water flows, WCT adoption patterns, and public benefits of increased water access. We calibrate our model using a 2011 household-plot survey and estimates from a randomized control trial of a specific WCT in the country’s Gangetic Plains. Results show that early public benefits from WCTs occur primarily via reduced well interference when underground aquifers are large. Clustering of WCTs in this case can generate even higher benefits, suggesting localized spatial externalities of adoption. Policymakers interested in subsidizing or encouraging diffusion of key WCTs as a way to address both poverty alleviation and water conservation may thus consider both the private returns and public benefits presented here. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace150045 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1500452025-11-06T06:56:19Z Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh Bhargava, Anil K. Lybbert, Travis J. Spielman, David J. technology adoption natural resources economic development poverty alleviation groundwater water conservation water water use poverty climate change With growing pressure on groundwater resources, water-conserving technologies (WCTs) look especially promising as a method of agricultural adaptation and poverty alleviation. While private benefits of WCTs are increasingly understood, public benefits are not as clear as they may seem. Some research has highlighted behavioral responses and diffusion as social consequences of private adoption. This paper focuses on the geophysical complications that shape public benefits across landscapes, raising spatial considerations of the WCT adoption decision and optimal diffusion patterns that can inform policymakers with the dual objectives of cost-efficient natural resource conservation and poverty alleviation, particularly in light of increasingly erratic weather patterns attributed to climate change. We focus on India—the world’s largest user of groundwater—and build a spatially sensitive hydroeconomic model to capture the dynamics of public water availability due to WCT adoption. We consider the spatial aspects of hydrological water flows, WCT adoption patterns, and public benefits of increased water access. We calibrate our model using a 2011 household-plot survey and estimates from a randomized control trial of a specific WCT in the country’s Gangetic Plains. Results show that early public benefits from WCTs occur primarily via reduced well interference when underground aquifers are large. Clustering of WCTs in this case can generate even higher benefits, suggesting localized spatial externalities of adoption. Policymakers interested in subsidizing or encouraging diffusion of key WCTs as a way to address both poverty alleviation and water conservation may thus consider both the private returns and public benefits presented here. 2015-08-21 2024-08-01T02:50:32Z 2024-08-01T02:50:32Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150045 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150371 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153543 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Bhargava, Anil K.; Lybbert, Travis J.; and Spielman, David J. 2015. Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1455. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150045 |
| spellingShingle | technology adoption natural resources economic development poverty alleviation groundwater water conservation water water use poverty climate change Bhargava, Anil K. Lybbert, Travis J. Spielman, David J. Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh |
| title | Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh |
| title_full | Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh |
| title_fullStr | Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh |
| title_short | Public benefits of private technology adoption: The localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern Uttar Pradesh |
| title_sort | public benefits of private technology adoption the localized spatial externalities of water conservation in eastern uttar pradesh |
| topic | technology adoption natural resources economic development poverty alleviation groundwater water conservation water water use poverty climate change |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150045 |
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