Surface Water Scarcity and Adaptation in the Long Run
Professor Hagerty is a leading expert on how water access shapes society and adaptation to environmental change. He has answered questions on the impacts of water regulation and scarcity using econometric methods informed by his knowledge of water supplies. We are excited to learn more about water in the western United States with his talk.
—Sandy Sum, Bren PhD Student
Dr. Hagerty will be presenting in person at Bren. Join us in Bren Hall 1414 or view the talk online using this link and passcode water
ABSTRACT
I study the long-run effects of surface water scarcity in irrigated agriculture and the extent of adaptation. First, I estimate the long-run effects of persistent differences in water supplies using spatial discontinuities between neighboring water utilities in California. Then, I measure adaptation by comparing these long-run effects with the short-run effects of weather-driven fluctuations in annual water supplies. Water scarcity reduces land values in the long run, and it reduces crop area and crop value in both the short run and the long run. Differing crop substitution patterns reveal that farmers adapt, but the lost production persists.
BIO
Nick Hagerty is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University. His research studies the role of water resources in how societies cope with environmental change, and how policy design can help people to better adapt. His recent projects focus on agriculture in California and India. Raised in Oregon, Nick earned a bachelor’s in biological physics from Brown University and a PhD in economics from MIT. He worked for the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama and completed a Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley.