WORKING PAPERS

Groundwater policy reform and agricultural revitalization: Evidence from block-level analysis in West Bengal.

with Archisman Mitra and Aditi Mukherji

In 2011, the Government of West Bengal reformed its groundwater policy by relaxing the permit requirement for obtaining an agricultural electric connection and provided a one-time fixed-cost subsidy. From 2011 to 2019, more than 200,000 pumps have been electrified. Using an original dataset from different sources of data that have been digitized and re-scaled for 341 blocks from 2003 to 2019, we conduct a panel level analysis to estimate the effect of the groundwater policy reform. Three levels of outcomes are analyzed: the number of pumps electrified, cropping patterns, and groundwater levels. The revised policy is applied in blocks considered as safe in terms of their groundwater resource while the permit is still required in semi-critical blocks. Variation of the treatment in space and time is used to estimate the intention to treat effects of the policy. We conduct robustness checks to determine the average treatment effects and the local average treatment effects using regression discontinuity design. Our result establishes that while the reform resulted in a significant increase in the number of electric pumps, there are limited effects on cropping patterns and groundwater levels. We, therefore, discuss and test different hypotheses to explain the absence of agricultural revitalization resulting from the groundwater policy reform.

Food distribution cycles and malnutrition in refugee camps.

with Frederic Aubery.

Being a refugee is often a long-term situation where household have to deal with the loss of their lands, cattle and assets with the assistance of relief agencies and International Nongovernmental Organizations. During this uncertain situation, they receive a monthly food aid as well as a piece of land and farming inputs. This food ration prevents them from the traditional lean season most households are facing once a year in southern Chad. In spite of this regular food intake, a large share of children born in camps is suffering long and short-term malnutrition. With the help of a large household database collected in three camps in southern Chad and a special survey design that allow us to compute an exogene time variable, we estimate the effect of time on food consumption. Results suggests that the more distant is the food distribution, the less a household’s cereal consumption is. This pattern also has a significant negative effect on children’s malnutrition. It means that the rhythm of the distribution has an impact on the way households are using their ration. In other words, their high preference for present creates a monthly period of food scarcity. A simple policy implication would be to raise the rate of distribution.

Women in natural resources management in the midst of climate change and male out-migration.

with Panchali Saikia.