ADAPTATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS: A STRUCTURAL RICARDIAN MODEL OF IRRIGATION AND FARM INCOME IN AFRICA

Although there is now an extensive literature on the economic impacts of climate change on agriculture, no study has yet addressed the endogeneity of irrigation. This paper examines how climate affects the choice to irrigate and the conditional income earned by each farmer. The paper develops a sele...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climate change economics 2011-05, Vol.2 (2), p.149-174
Main Authors: KURUKULASURIYA, PRADEEP, KALA, NAMRATA, MENDELSOHN, ROBERT
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural seasons
Agroecology
Climate change
Climate change adaptation
Climate models
Irrigated farming
Irrigation
Precipitation
Rainfed farming
Seasons
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Summary:Although there is now an extensive literature on the economic impacts of climate change on agriculture, no study has yet addressed the endogeneity of irrigation. This paper examines how climate affects the choice to irrigate and the conditional income earned by each farmer. The paper develops a selection model of irrigation choice and conditional income. Using data from farmers across eleven African countries, the paper demonstrates that the choice of irrigation is sensitive to both temperature and precipitation. Rainfed and irrigated farm income also both respond to climate but have different climate sensitivity. Impact models that fail to account for endogenous irrigation are biased.
ISSN:2010-0078
2010-0086
DOI:10.1142/S2010007811000255