This paper is part of the Doctoral Program in Natural Sciences for Development Thesis in Costa Rica

It is uncertain whether market-based water allocation regimes can be successfully deployed to deliver water for environmental needs, with uneven results demonstrated across jurisdictions that have experimented with markets as a regulatory tool. The Paper will compare and evaluate the regulatory...

The energy savings from tree shade coincide with peak electricity demand during summer months, creating an opportunity for utilities to use tree protection policies as demand side management tools. We apply a quasi-experimental research design to identify the change in residential energy caused...

Agricultural production can degrade water sources through leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural land to surface and ground water sources. To minimize the pollution from agricultural production, the U.S. Department of Agriculture promotes adoption of conservation practices....

Why are some economies likely to grow more slowly when facing natural resource windfalls? What are the causes and consequences of the so-called natural resource curse? These are commonly asked questions in the economics literature, where different studies have address them using different...

Many incentives at the state and federal level exist for household adoption of re- newable energy like solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Although incentives make solar panels an attractive investment from a net present value perspective, the adoption rate is low, suggesting that households are...

One of the most important groundwater problems in Oregon, Washington and Idaho is the long-term decline of the groundwater surface level, which has been intensified by wells through discharging water from aquifers. Groundwater contamination from agriculture aggravates the depletion problem in...