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Way Down in the Hole: Adaptation to Long-Term Water Loss in Rural India

Author

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  • David Blakeslee
  • Ram Fishman
  • Veena Srinivasan

Abstract

Worsening environmental conditions threaten to undermine progress in reducing rural poverty. Little is known, however, about the prospects for farmer adaptations to mitigate this threat, in particular through opportunities for income diversification presented by recent non-agricultural growth. We study the effects of increasing water scarcity in India using quasi-random, geologically determined differences in access to groundwater. The drying up of wells results in a precipitous and persistent decline in farm income and wealth, with little evidence of agricultural adaptation. However, labor reallocation to off-farm employment appears successful in maintaining overall income, particularly in locations with a more developed manufacturing sector.

Suggested Citation

  • David Blakeslee & Ram Fishman & Veena Srinivasan, 2020. "Way Down in the Hole: Adaptation to Long-Term Water Loss in Rural India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(1), pages 200-224, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:110:y:2020:i:1:p:200-224
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20180976
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sedai, Ashish Kumar, 2021. "Who Benefits from Piped Water in the House? Empirical Evidence from a Gendered Analysis in India," ADBI Working Papers 1273, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    2. Thomas Carr & Toru Kitagawa, 2021. "Testing Instrument Validity with Covariates," Papers 2112.08092, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2023.
    3. Blakeslee,David & Chaurey,Ritam & Fishman,Ram & Malik,Samreen, 2021. "Land Rezoning and Structural Transformation in Rural India : Evidence from the Industrial Areas Program," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9541, The World Bank.
    4. Baccar, Mariem & Raynal, Hélène & Sekhar, Muddu & Bergez, Jacques-Eric & Willaume, Magali & Casel, Pierre & Giriraj, P. & Murthy, Sanjeeva & Ruiz, Laurent, 2023. "Dynamics of crop category choices reveal strategies and tactics used by smallholder farmers in India to cope with unreliable water availability," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    5. Afridi, Farzana & Mahajan, Kanika & Sangwan, Nikita, 2022. "The gendered effects of droughts: Production shocks and labor response in agriculture," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Chinchu Mohan & Andrew W. Western & Madan Kumar Jha & Yongping Wei, 2022. "Global Assessment of Groundwater Stress Vis-à-Vis Sustainability of Irrigated Food Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Blakeslee, David & Dar, Aaditya & Fishman, Ram & Malik, Samreen & Pellegrina, Heitor S. & Bagavathinathan, Karan Singh, 2023. "Irrigation and the spatial pattern of local economic development in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    8. Feriga, Moustafa & Lozano Gracia, Nancy & Serneels, Pieter, 2024. "The Impact of Climate Change on Work Lessons for Developing Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 16914, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Afridi, Farzana & Mahajan, Kanika & Sangwan, Nikita, 2021. "The Gendered Effects of Climate Change: Production Shocks and Labor Response in Agriculture," IZA Discussion Papers 14568, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Vanden Eynde, Oliver & Wren-Lewis, Liam, 2021. "Complementarities in Infrastructure: Evidence from Rural India," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2104, CEPREMAP.
    11. Sudatta Ray & Hemant K. Pullabhotla, 2023. "The changing impact of rural electrification on Indian agriculture," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    12. Njuki, Eric, 2021. "Nonlinear weather and climate-induced effects on hired farm labor wages: Evidence from the U.S. Cornbelt," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313959, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Aditi Mukherji, 2022. "Sustainable Groundwater Management in India Needs a Water‐Energy‐Food Nexus Approach," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 394-410, March.
    14. Francisco Costa & Fabien Forge & Jason Garred & João Paulo Pessoa, 2023. "The Impact of Climate Change on Risk and Return in Indian Agriculture," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 85(1), pages 1-27, May.
    15. Le, Hanh-My & Ludwig, Markus, 2022. "The Salinization of Agricultural Hubs: Impacts and Adjustments to Intensifying Saltwater Intrusion in the Mekong Delta," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264102, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. Xiukang Wang, 2022. "Managing Land Carrying Capacity: Key to Achieving Sustainable Production Systems for Food Security," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-21, March.
    17. Nicholas Ryan & Anant Sudarshan, 2020. "Rationing the Commons," Working Papers 2020-93, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    18. Dietrich Earnhart & Nathan P. Hendricks, 2023. "Adapting to water restrictions: Intensive versus extensive adaptation over time differentiated by water right seniority," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(5), pages 1458-1490, October.
    19. Eric C. Edwards & Todd Guilfoos, 2021. "The Economics of Groundwater Governance Institutions across the Globe," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1571-1594, December.
    20. Francisco Costa & Fabien Forge & Jason Garred & João Paulo Pessoa, 2020. "Climate Change and the Distribution of Agricultural Output," Working Papers 2003E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    21. Li, Man, 2023. "Adaptation to expected and unexpected weather fluctuations: Evidence from Bangladeshi smallholder farmers," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    22. Nicholas Ryan & Anant Sudarshan, 2020. "Rationing the Commons," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2239, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    23. Nicholas Ryan & Anant Sudarshan, 2020. "Rationing the Commons," NBER Working Papers 27473, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

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