http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/40424 Sun, 19 May 2013 11:00:16 GMT 2013-05-19T11:00:16Z http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/41844 Title: Rough guide to impact evaluation of environmental and development programs Authors: Pattanayak, Subhrendu K. Abstract: Evaluation of programs, either before they are designed or after they are implemented, are increasingly viewed as a critical for learning and improving accountability of public policies. Unfortunately, resource and environmental economists in developing countries have little or no training or guidance on how to conduct such evaluations using sound and rigorous empirical methods. This paper is a “rough guide” for evaluation of programs, projects and policies in the environment and development arena. First, we provide a general overview of the what, how, and why of program evaluation, with particular emphasis on the role of control groups, pre-&-post measurement, and covariate data to define counterfactual scenarios (including formal definition of all terms). Second, we review detailed examples of the four main methods for evaluation – randomized experiments, natural experiments, matching methods, and panel-based DID estimators – with a description of the pros and cons of each method. Third, the guide provides one detailed case study of a SANDEE funded project from South Asia that allows the reader to learn by using data and econometric code to practice and appreciate some of the challenges of impact evaluations. Finally, we conclude by placing the econometric evaluations within the broader context – how can we move beyond estimation of average treatment effects; what do we do under time, resource and data constraints; and when and where should we rely on theory-based evaluations. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/41844 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/41841 Title: Place of nature in economic development Authors: Dasgupta, Partha Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/41841 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/41836 Title: Awareness and the demand for environmental quality : drinking water in urban India Authors: Jalan, Jyotsna; Somanathan, E.; Choudhuri, Saraswata Editors: Gunatilake, Herath; Shyamsundar, Priya Abstract: The demand for environmental quality clean air, potable water, sanitation, safe food is often presumed to be low in developing countries due to poverty. However, individuals in developing countries often lack the necessary information to make good decisions about environmental hazards in their day-to-day lives. Even if households can afford to take private measures to improve environmental quality, very often they choose not to do so, because they are not aware of the health risks associated with inferior environmental quality. A key policy question is whether increasing awareness about the adverse health effects of environmental pollution will increase demand for a cleaner environment? // In this paper, a household survey from urban India is used to estimate the effects of awareness and wealth on household decisions to purify home water. Average costs of different home purification methods are used to get estimates on willingness to pay for better drinking water quality in Delhi. It is found that measures of awareness such as schooling and exposure to mass media have statistically significant effects on adoption of different home purification methods and therefore, on willingness to pay. The interesting result is that these effects are similar in magnitude to wealth effects – this suggests that lack of awareness may be as important as poverty in influencing demand for clean water. Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/41836 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/38924 Title: Discounting climate change Authors: Dasgupta, Partha Abstract: In this paper I offer a fairly complete account of the idea of social discount rates as applied to public policy analysis. I show that those rates are neither ethical primitives nor observables as market rates of return on investment, but that they ought instead to be derived from economic forecasts and society’s conception of distributive justice concerning the allocation of goods and services across personal identities, time, and events. The welfare theory is developed in the context of three empirical studies on the economics of global climate change. I argue that the theoretical foundations of intergenerational welfare economics are still unsettled even in deterministic models. The standard precautionary motive for saving is then reviewed in the case where future uncertainties are not large. I then show that if the uncertainties associated with climate change and biodiversity losses are large, the formulation of intergenerational well-being we economists have grown used to could lead to ethical paradoxes even if the uncertainties are thin-tailed: an optimum policy may not exist. Various modelling avenues that offer a way out of the dilemma are discussed. It is shown that none of them is entirely satisfactory. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/38924 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/38923 Title: Environment as a production input : a tutorial Authors: Vincent, Jeffrey R. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca:80/dspace/handle/10625/38923 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z