Ariel Dinar

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Advanced Introduction to Water Economics and Policy highlights various aspects of economic and policy considerations as they are applied to water decision-making and evaluation in a comprehensive and clear manner. Key Features:Presents example-based simplified descriptions of water problems and economic principles used to address themProvides examples from different countries and analysis of main water-using sectorsHighlights emerging topics in water economics that address water scarcity and discusses economic and policy aspects related to the management of water at local, regional and international scalesResearchers and students will appreciate the comprehensive, straightforward presentation of critical information in this Advanced Introduction that does not get lost in technical jargon.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Advanced Introduction to Water Economics and Policy highlights various aspects of economic and policy considerations as they are applied to water decision-making and evaluation in a comprehensive and clear manner. Key Features:Presents example-based simplified descriptions of water problems and economic principles used to address themProvides examples from different countries and analysis of main water-using sectorsHighlights emerging topics in water economics that address water scarcity and discusses economic and policy aspects related to the management of water at local, regional and international scalesResearchers and students will appreciate the comprehensive, straightforward presentation of critical information in this Advanced Introduction that does not get lost in technical jargon.

Globalization and recent developments in the world suggest strong relationships between local and global decisions, actions and impacts. Global-local relationships are also associated with positive and negative externalities, which necessitate policy interventions. Lecture Notes in Global-Local Policy Interactions discusses the process of building and managing a global public policy and the interaction of public policies at the global and local (national/regional) levels. This book demonstrates the global negative externalities from under-regulation of various activities by one agent/country that affect the well-being of other agents/countries, and the design of policies (agreements) to reduce the impacts of such externalities. Possible opposed interests to global policies of local stakeholders and the (local) policies they established to tackle such externalities in their jurisdictions are included as well. The book introduces concepts and principles associated with conflict, negotiation and cooperation, all of which are part of policy reform and design. It explores to various extents the global-local interactions that are related to selected global policies. Special emphasis is placed on global policies such as climate change, water, anti-terrorism, tobacco control, regulation of substances that deplete the ozone layer, desertification, and elimination of anti-personnel mines.

Globalization and recent developments in the world suggest strong relationships between local and global decisions, actions and impacts. Global-local relationships are also associated with positive and negative externalities, which necessitate policy interventions. Lecture Notes in Global-Local Policy Interactions discusses the process of building and managing a global public policy and the interaction of public policies at the global and local (national/regional) levels. This book demonstrates the global negative externalities from under-regulation of various activities by one agent/country that affect the well-being of other agents/countries, and the design of policies (agreements) to reduce the impacts of such externalities. Possible opposed interests to global policies of local stakeholders and the (local) policies they established to tackle such externalities in their jurisdictions are included as well. The book introduces concepts and principles associated with conflict, negotiation and cooperation, all of which are part of policy reform and design. It explores to various extents the global-local interactions that are related to selected global policies. Special emphasis is placed on global policies such as climate change, water, anti-terrorism, tobacco control, regulation of substances that deplete the ozone layer, desertification, and elimination of anti-personnel mines.

Population growth and rising living standards, on the one hand, and changing climate, on the other hand, have exacerbated water scarcity worldwide. To address this problem, policymakers need to take a wide view of the water economy – a complex structure involving environmental, social, economic, legal, and institutional aspects. A coherent water policy must look at the water economy as a whole and apply a comprehensive approach to policy interventions. Written by two of the world's leading scholars on economics of water, this is the first graduate-level textbook on the topic. The book discusses water resource management within a comprehensive framework that integrates the different, yet highly entwined, elements of a water economy. It follows the steps needed to develop a well-designed set of policies based on detailed analyses of intervention measures, using multi-sectoral and economy-wide examples from a variety of locations and situations around the world.

Population growth and rising living standards, on the one hand, and changing climate, on the other hand, have exacerbated water scarcity worldwide. To address this problem, policymakers need to take a wide view of the water economy – a complex structure involving environmental, social, economic, legal, and institutional aspects. A coherent water policy must look at the water economy as a whole and apply a comprehensive approach to policy interventions. Written by two of the world's leading scholars on economics of water, this is the first graduate-level textbook on the topic. The book discusses water resource management within a comprehensive framework that integrates the different, yet highly entwined, elements of a water economy. It follows the steps needed to develop a well-designed set of policies based on detailed analyses of intervention measures, using multi-sectoral and economy-wide examples from a variety of locations and situations around the world.

International Water Scarcity and Variability considers international water management challenges created by water scarcity and environmental change. Although media coverage and some scholars tend to cast natural resource shortages as leading inexorably toward armed conflict and war, Shlomi Dinar and Ariel Dinar demonstrate that there are many examples of and mechanisms for more peaceful dispute resolution regarding natural resources, even in the face of water paucity and climate change. The authors base these arguments on both global empirical analyses and case studies. Using numerous examples that focus on North America, Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, this book considers strategies and incentives that help lessen conflict and motivate cooperation under scarcity and increased variability of water resources.

International Water Scarcity and Variability considers international water management challenges created by water scarcity and environmental change. Although media coverage and some scholars tend to cast natural resource shortages as leading inexorably toward armed conflict and war, Shlomi Dinar and Ariel Dinar demonstrate that there are many examples of and mechanisms for more peaceful dispute resolution regarding natural resources, even in the face of water paucity and climate change. The authors base these arguments on both global empirical analyses and case studies. Using numerous examples that focus on North America, Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, this book considers strategies and incentives that help lessen conflict and motivate cooperation under scarcity and increased variability of water resources.

This book is about the process of water management decentralization in African countries, which is seen as a means of advancing river basin management at the lowest appropriate level. There are very different stages of implementing decentralization in practice. This called for research aiming to understand the following questions: (i) why do some water agencies succeed more than others? (ii) What are the variables involved in such reform process? (iii) which variables have a positive or a negative impact on the implementation of decentralization processes? (iv) Which variables could be affected by policy interventions, and how? This study aimed to answer these questions through the following objectives: (i) analyze the factors that have potentially affected the results of decentralization process in SSA basins, and (ii) analyze the performance of decentralization process in SSA basins. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. The main findings are that waterscarcity is a major stimulus to reform; water user associations, if not well prepared and trained, may deter the decentralization process; and being part of an existing treaty over an international basin helps foster the process. Conditions improving decentralization performance include: scarcity of water resources, longer period of implementation, bottom-up creation, and appropriate budgetary support.

This landmark book encompasses a comprehensive assessment of the potential economic impacts of future climate change, and the value of adaptation measures in Africa for different zones, regions, countries and farm types. Researchers developed and applied multiple analytical procedures to assess quantitatively how climate affects current agricultural systems in Africa, enabling them to predict how these systems may be affected in the future by climate change under various global warming scenarios, and suggesting what role adaptation could play. The study is the first to combine spatially referenced household survey data with climatic data at both national and international levels. This book provides vital knowledge about the impacts of climate change on Africa, serving as a guide to policy intervention strategies and investment in adaptation measures. It makes a major contribution to the analysis of climate change impacts and developing adaptation strategies, especially in the highly vulnerable farming communities in the developing world. Published with CEEPA and supported by the World Bank.

The use of game theory (GT) in water resources by different disciplinary professions including, but not limited to, engineers, international relations experts, economists, and geographers, is vast and impressive. The objective of Game Theory and Water Resources is to collect this vast literature, catalogue it, and provide present and future practitioners of game theory in water resources with a source of information that can be useful for their research. The authors assume that readers of this monograph have the basic skills in game theory, and have kept explanations of game theory concepts to a minimum. Game Theory and Water Resources introduces the topics and moves onto reporting the historical trends observed in the accumulation of GT publications on water between 1942 and 2013. Section 3 describes the developments in Cooperative GT-methodologies to water issues, whose applications ruled the GT applications during the period 1950-1990. Section 4 reviews the development of Non-Cooperative GT (NCGT) methodologies to various water issues. Section 5 provides a comprehensive review of GT surveys that have been published in the literature. Section 6 reviews Game Theory applications by sub-sector -- the authors identify 11 sub-sectors and review the applications of GT approaches to each of them. The monograph ends with a conclusion and identification of remaining problems to be addressed in the future.

Water and Economy-Wide Policy Interventions considers policy interventions aimed at improving water allocation decisions and assessing the impact on regions and sectors by including both macro and micro considerations in a unified analytical framework. The monograph draws upon a recently completed set of country based case studies on water management policy interventions in Morocco, South Africa, Turkey and Mexico, all using a similar macro-micro CGE framework. The country studies allow, for the first time, a comparison of a variety of policy interventions across various economic, institutional and physical situations, and a generalization to situations and conditions in other countries. The results of the analyses of the macro-micro linkage approach that was applied to Morocco, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey are presented and contrasted so that the tradeoffs between different social allocation preferences are clearly identified in terms of their impact on sectoral productivity and on welfare distribution, using economy-wide performance indicators. The authors conclude by identifying areas in need for more research - such as climate change, globalization, food crisis, migration, distributional effects - and provide a proposed framework for their inclusion in such analysis.

Following the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, countries took up the difficult task of finding a common approach that would slow down the build-up of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and delay changes to the planet's climate. A widespread concern among many of the participants in the newly formed United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was that the emission reductions needed to significantly affect climate change would cost so much that it could jeopardize the chances of a coordinated international solution. To address this concern, several flexible mechanisms were designed, including the CDM. While many applaud the CDM, others are concerned with its performance and achievements, and whether or not it will be continued beyond 2012. Critics argue, among other things, that it has not delivered on the sustainable development objective for which it was established and that projects are unevenly distributed, both geographically and sectorally. Much analysis is available on CDM, but very little comprehensive analysis, addressing various aspects of CDM is available. With a major decision for its continuation, a multi-dimensional analysis would be needed. This book is about the economic assessment of certain (not certain) CDM performances, and its future sustainability and trajectory.

Bridges over Water places the study of transboundary water conflicts, negotiation, and cooperation in the context of various disciplines, such as international relations, international law, international negotiations, and economics. It demonstrates their application, using various quantitative approaches, such as river basin modeling, quantitative negotiation theory, and game theory. Case-studies of particular transboundary river basins, lakes, and aquifers are also considered. This second edition updates the literature on international water and in-depth analyses on political developments and cooperation between riparian states. With an appended chapter on principles and practices of negotiation, and a new case study on the La Plata Basin, this edition is a timely update to the field of transboundary water studies.

Despite its great importance, there are surprisingly few economic studies of the impact of climate on agriculture and how agriculture can adapt under a variety of conditions. This book examines 22 countries across four continents, including both developed and developing economies. It provides both a good analytical basis for additional work and solid results for policy debate concerning income distributional effects such as abatement, adaptation, and equity. Agriculture and grazing are a central sector in the livelihood of many people, particularly in developing countries. This book uses the Ricardian method to examine the impact of climate change on agriculture. It also quantifies how farmers adapt to climate. The findings suggest that agriculture in developing countries is more sensitive to climate than agriculture in developed countries. Rain-fed cropland is generally more sensitive to warming than irrigated cropland and cropland is more sensitive than livestock. The adaptation to climate change results reveal that farmers make many adjustments including switching crops and livestock species, adopting irrigation, and moving between livestock and crops. The results also reveal that impacts and adaptations vary a great deal across landscapes, suggesting that adaptation policies must be location specific. Finally, the book suggests a research agenda for the future. Economists in academia and the public sector, policy analysts and development agencies will find this broad study illuminating.

'This is a well researched, thorough and impressive work on climate change and agriculture in Africa. I recommend it to students, researchers and practitioners working on climate change issues' Jabavu Clifford Nkomo, senior programme specialist, IDRC This landmark book encompasses a comprehensive assessment of the potential economic impacts of future climate change, and the value of adaptation measures in Africa for different zones, regions, countries and farm types. Researchers developed and applied multiple analytical procedures to assess quantitatively how climate affects current agricultural systems in Africa, enabling them to predict how these systems may be affected in the future by climate change under various global warming scenarios, and suggesting what role adaptation could play. The study is the first to combine spatially referenced household survey data with climatic data at both national and international levels. This book provides vital knowledge about the impacts of climate change on Africa, serving as a guide to policy intervention strategies and investment in adaptation measures. It makes a major contribution to the analysis of climate change impacts and developing adaptation strategies, especially in the highly vulnerable farming communities in the developing world. Published with CEEPA and supported by the World Bank.

"Bridges over Water" places the study of transboundary water conflicts, negotiation, and cooperation in the context of various disciplines (such as international relations, international law, international negotiations, and economics), analyzing them using various quantitative approaches, such as river basin modeling and game theory. Case studies of particular transboundary river basins, lakes and aquifers are also considered. This is the first textbook for a relatively recent yet rapidly expanding field of study.

This outstanding new book provides the most detailed and comprehensive evaluation of water reform and water sector performance from the perspectives of institutional economics and political economy. Skilfully integrating institutional theory with resource economics, and set against an exhaustive review of the theoretical and empirical literature, the authors develop an alternative methodology to quantitatively assess the performance of institutions in the context of water. This methodology is built on the principle of 'institutional ecology', the 'institutional decomposition and analysis' framework, and the 'subjective theory' of institutional change. Using this new methodology, plus information collected through an international survey of 127 water experts, the authors present a detailed empirical analysis of the process of institution-performance interaction in the water sector. Relying on the institutional transaction cost approach and an extensive cross-country review of recent water sector reforms, they also provide evidence on the relative role of various factors which influence the extent and depth of water institutional reforms in 43 countries and regions around the world. The book concludes with far reaching implications for the theory and policy of water sector reform in particular and institutional reform in general. Unique and up-to-date, this book offers an authoritative review of the important linkages between institutions and performance both in general and water sector contexts. By laying the foundations for future research and policy in this field, it will be of particular relevance and value for institutional economists, natural resource and environmental economists, political scientists, policymakers, donor agencies and students and scholars working on water-related issues.

This work presents models that characterize the relationships between quantity and quality of irrigation water application, and agricultural production and the environment. A comprehensive modeling approach addressing both the benefits of irrigation and the potential negative effects is introduced. Physical-biological concepts are combined with economic and engineering principles to demonstrate the usefulness of the model for analyzing various water management and policy issues. Decision makers on all levels should find the modeling approach interesting and useful in the management issues from the farm to national levels.