Climate Change and Adaptation in Agriculture: Evidence from US Cropping Patterns
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
Abstract
Understanding how a changing climate alters regional comparative advantage is crucial for evaluating the economic impacts of climate change. I exploit temporal variation in decades-long averages of weather and estimate crop acreage elasticities with respect to climate change in the United States. I find substantial climate change adaptation through acreage adjustments in US agriculture. Climate change explains about 10-35% of the observed US corn and soybean expansion over the past 30 years, and climate-driven crop substitution has played an important role. The acreage response is heterogeneous across major and minor producing areas and across dryland and irrigated counties.
JEL classification: Q11; Q15; Q54
Keywords: Climate change; Adaptation; Comparative advantage; Acreage elasticities; Crop substitution
Read more: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2020.102306
