We develop and estimate an econometric model of the relationship between several local and global air and water pollutants and economic development while allowing for critical aspects of the socio-political-economic regime of a State. We obtain empirical support for our hypothesis that democracy and its associated freedoms provide the conduit through which agents can exercise their preferences for environmental quality more effectively than under an autocratic regime, thus leading to decreased concentrations or emissions of pollution. However, additional factors such as income inequality, age distribution, and urbanization may mitigate or exacerbate the net effect of the type of political regime on pollution, depending on the underlying societal preferences and the weights assigned to those preferences by the State.

Recognizing that people value employment not only to earn income to satisfy their consumption needs, but also as a means to gain socio-psychological (nonpecuniary) benefits, we show that once nonpecuniary work incentives are incorporated into standard labor supply theory, (i) the wage rate under-estimates (over-estimates) the true value of nonwork/leisure time when work has nonpecuniary benefits (costs), (ii) nonpecuniary benefits can be a substitute for monetary wages as work incentives,(iii) at very low wage rates, work can become a net wource of utiltiy, and (iv) the shape of labor supply curve differs from standard theory. We also indentify conditions under which a greater nonpecuniary work incentive generates a larger individual labor supply, and examine the effects of non-wage income on labor supply both for paid and voluntary work.

Rice production in California is intensive in input usage. Weed resistance has led to growing chemical usage and has raised costs for many rice producers in California. In recent years, widespread adoption of genetically modified (GM) soybeans, corn, canola, and cotton has provided growers of those crops with new production alternatives that reduce chemical usage. But GM rice has not yet been approved for commercial production in California or elsewhere. One reason that GM rice production has been delayed is that this new technology is controversial. In California, environmental groups and organic rice farmers are opposed to any cultivation of GM rice in the state. We estimate the potential economic impacts of commercialization of GM rice in California. Our findings suggest that this new technology would most likely benefit the California rice industry and offer significant economic advantages to growers.

We assume that people value employment not only to earn icome to satisfy their consumption needs but also as a means of community/social involvement that provides socio-psychological (non-pecuniary) benefits. We show that the latter incentive can encourage full employment harvesting resources and explain why poor resource-based communities may exhaust a natural resource in a finite time even if there is a sustainable path of resource consumption available. We show that communtities could sustain their natural resources by using outside-the-community employment and economic diversification, but, to be effective, such policies must ensure that the outside wage rate and the initial capital stock are above certain minimum levels, which will be higher the longer these policies are delayed.

We analyze the efficient management of nonpoint source pollution (NPS) under a limited pollution control budget and incomplete information. We focus on the tradeoff between data collection and pollution abatement efforts by incorporating information acquisition into a NPS pollution control model. Comparative static results show conditions under which (i) a favorable change in the abatement costs at one source may lead to an increase in the treatment level at all sources, and vice versa, (ii) an increase in data collection cost leads to an increase in data collection level, and (iii) an increase in the efficiency of information acquisition leads to a decrease in the level of data collection. More importantly, the model simulations illustrate that acquiring and exploiting information on heterogeneity of sediment loading distributions across polluting sources leads to a more efficient budget allocation and hence a greater reduction in pollution damage than would be the case without such information.

Correct (and Misleading) Arguments for Market-Based Pollution Control Policies

Faculty Profile: Larry Karp

Expert Opinion and the Demand for Wine

California Water Quality: The Role of Agriculture

Immigration Reform: Implications for Agriculture.

Democracy and Environmental Quality.

Are International Beef Prices Converging and, if so, Why?

What Price Should be Paid to Keep U.S.Dependence on Foreign Oil in Check?; Privatization and Innovation in Agricultural Biotechnology; ARE Faculty Profile: Scott Rozelle; Prices,Volumes and Promotions in the Fresh Strawberry Market

Economic Impacts of Reductions in Delta Exports on Central Valley Agriculture

California Water Quality: Is It Lower for Minorities and Immigrants?

What’s Extra Virgin? An Economic Assessment of California’s Olive Oil Labeling Law

Grower Benefits from the Adoption of Genetically Modified Rice in California

The California Wine Industry: Entering a New Era?

Targeting Payments for Environmental Services: The Role of Risk