We examine potential third-party effects arising from trading water from one region (rural) to another (urban). Using labor, water and heterogeneous land, rural agents produce a traded agricultural good and nontraded service good. Absent job market frictions, increased water trading improves per...

This book contains a selection of the papers presented at the Joint Conference on Food, Agriculture, and the Environment, organized by the University of Minnesota and several universities in Italy, and held in Bologna, Italy, on June 12-14, 2001. The papers are grouped into four sections: a)...

Markets for Water: Potential and Performance dispels many of the myths surrounding water markets and gives readers a comprehensive picture of the way that markets have developed in different parts of the world. It is possible, for example, for a water market to fail, and for the transaction...

1. Introduction -- 2. The economic evaluation of interbasin transfers of water : conceptual framework -- 3. Direct and secondary water benefits : studies of the benefits from water in agriculture -- 4. Long-term regional impacts and national benefits of an interbasin transfer -- 5. The direct...

The purpose of this paper is to determine what types of information may be important in determining the welfare benefits of preventing toxic water contamination when a given type of toxification occurs (or is likely to occur) in a given setting. It attempts to identify information and behavior...

We examine the potential effects of water trading on aggregate welfare and income distribution across the agricultural and service sector of a small rural economy. We show that per capita welfare (real income) of agents in the region increase with increased water trading. Not surprisingly, if...

At the macro level, the way water resources are managed results in major misallocations as well as quality deterioration. It has become apparent in many cases that current practices and policies are not sustainable, and that reforms are needed. The present paper focuses on some of these reforms....