We show that Stiglitz's (1974) principal-agency theory of share tenancy does not imply, as alleged, that the optimal tenant share is less than one for risk-averse tenants nor that the share decreases monotonically with tenant risk aversion. Tenants may self insure by working harder increasingly...

We assess the development economics of on-farm employment with an eye toward policy implications. What do we know and what additional research is needed? The older tradition of labor market dualism and some of the more modern research are seen to share a characteristic of misplaced exogeneity,...

To meet the growing demand for freshwater, many regions have increased pumping of groundwater in recent years, resulting in declining groundwater levels worldwide. A promising development is technical change regarding groundwater substitutes such as desalination and wastewater recycling....

General principles of groundwater management for a single aquifer are extended to the management of multiple water resources, including additional aquifers, recycled wastewater, and desalinated seawater. Optimal groundwater extraction can be incentivized by pricing according to the Pearce...

We review the theory of optimal conjunctive-use management absent transaction costs as a point of departure for a second-best theory of management. We first explore the problem of optimal pricing of surface water when groundwater remains unregulated. We then move to consideration of...

Both the economics and the engineering of irrigation design are typically based on the assumption of a single source. The more general economic problem is to determine which sources should be developed and how water should be allocated and delivered to various receptor-farmers. This is a problem...

There is a persistent tendency in economic development circles to jump to policy conclusions without entertaining more fundamental explanations of empirical patterns. After reviewing several examples in the field of agricultural development, I provide an alternative paradigm for understanding...

We illuminate several important aspects of the nature and causes of growth and institutional change. To do this, we focus on the role resource pressures have played in the historic development of Hawaii’s institutions. We discuss the Hawaiian story in the context of the natural co-evolution of...

Optimal recycling of minerals can be thought of as an integral part of the theory of the mine. In this paper, we consider the role that wastewater recycling plays in the optimal extraction of groundwater, a renewable resource. We develop a two-sector dynamic optimization model to solve for the...