Mahadevan and Shenoy (2023) assesses the use of state influence on funding for welfare programs in West Bengal for political targeting during periods of economic distress. Using a multidimensional regression discontinuity design, the authors find a misallocation of funding for a make-work...

We test whether the decisions in a common-pool resource game are better modeled game- theoretically as strategic substitutes or complements using an individual-level dataset of groundwater usage that accounts for 3% of US irrigated agriculture. Based on a regression framework with instrumental...

We investigate the strategic nature of farmers' groundwater usage with a rich dataset from the American Midwest. We propose a new revealed preference test for the groundwater interaction as a dynamic game. We reject a view of groundwater usage decisions as strategic substitutes in favor of...

Community-based reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plants provide an interim solution for producing safe drinking water for the endemic areas of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in the rural dry zone of Sri Lanka. RO-treated groundwater diminishes the progression of CKDu;...

We investigate the impact of groundwater contamination on educational outcomes in India. Our study leverages variations in the geographical coverage and timing of construction of safe government piped water schemes to identify the effects of exposure to contaminants. Using self-collected survey...

Affordable and reliable energy is an important driver for improving access to irrigation in South Asia. Policies for improving electricity access and augmenting supply are likely to impact affordability and equity in irrigation access, especially in regions where agriculture is the mainstay of...

Natural and anthropogenic activities have proven to be the main sources of contaminants in groundwater. Hence, the need for continuous evaluation of the controlling factors of groundwater mineralization for monitoring purposes. The study assessed the controls of the groundwater mineralization in...

Human activity is almost invariably the cause of groundwater contamination. Groundwater is particularly at risk in locations with a high population density and extensive human usage of the land. Almost any action that could result in the purposeful or unintentional release of chemicals or wastes...

Human health and ecological security are vulnerable to groundwater pollution at landfill sites. It is essential to monitor groundwater quality downstream of landfills, but evaluating the pollution plumes within a multi-component contaminated aquifer remains a challenge. In order to track the...

Irrigation water in rice cultivation significantly affects the arsenic (As) mobilization in the paddy field soil. This research assessed the effect of rainwater (RW) and groundwater (GW) on arsenic (As) dissolution dynamics of paddy field soil. The up-flow column flooding experiments were...

Groundwater contamination near landfills is commonly caused by leachate leakage, permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are widely used for groundwater remediation, however, the deactivation and blockage of the reactive medium in PRBs limit their long-term effectiveness. In the current study, a new...

Urbanization in Ethiopia is increasing rapidly, leading to environmental changes and necessitating improved urban infrastructure. Dire Dawa, the second most populous city in Ethiopia, has a high rate of urban growth. However, there is no clear plan for a viable water supply source. This study...

There is a large literature on the role infrastructure plays in economic development, but few papers document the causal effect of infrastructure on the sustainability of natural resources. We examine the effect of the arrival of two new national highways on ground water levels in a small...

Incomplete property rights are common across a range of natural resources such as fisheries and groundwater. The High Plains Aquifer region of Kansas provides one example of a complex but incomplete system of property rights. Rights to groundwater in Kansas are incomplete due to the physical...

Groundwater is our most important freshwater resource, but the lack of systematic analysis of its economic importance has evaded attention from policymakers and the general public-threatening the resource. "The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Economics of Groundwater in Times of Climate Change"...

Charting the future for effective water governance : conceptualising water justice -- Subsidies and groundwater access in India : from assuring water security to challenging social equity and environmental sustainability -- Changing role of the state in the drinking water sector and the...

Groundwater currently provides 98 percent of all the drinking water supply in Bangladesh. Groundwater is found throughout Bangladesh but its quality (that is, arsenic and salinity contamination) and quantity (that is, water storage depletion) vary across hydrological environments, posing unique...

Community-based reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plants provide an interim solution for producing safe drinking water for the endemic areas of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in the rural dry zone of Sri Lanka. RO-treated groundwater diminishes the progression of CKDu;...

Internet-connected sensor technologies have recently been used to monitor water service infrastructure in remote settings. In this study, 397 groundwater pumps were observed in Plateau State, Nigeria over 12 months in 2021. Two hundred of these sites were instrumented with remotely reporting...