Title：Irrigation and the Spatial Pattern of Structural Transformation in India

Speaker:   Ram Fishman, Tel Aviv University

Time: Nov.29, 15:00 -16:30 (Beijing Time)

About the speaker:

Ram Fishman is an Assistant Professor of public policy at Tel Aviv University （TAU）. Prior to coming to TAU, he was an assistant professor of Economics at George Washington University, and prior to that, a Giorgio Ruffolo Post-doctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science at the Harvard Kennedy School. 

Ram Fishman is an expert in sustainable development. He holds a PhD in Sustainable Development from Columbia University. His research is focused on empirical and quantitative analyses of sustainable agriculture, water scarcity and climate change, with an emphasis on developing countries. He directs a research group at TAU that is running multiple empirical field projects in Israel, South Asia and Africa.

Abstract:

Improvements in agricultural productivity have theoretically ambiguous impacts on economic development, as gains in agricultural incomes may come at the expense of non-agricultural growth. We study the impacts of 1,500 large-scale irrigation projects in India, which brought irrigation water to more than 250,000 villages. To identify treatment effects, we use high-resolution spatial data, and exploit discontinuities in program inclusion arising at project boundaries. We show that villages in program areas experienced increases in agricultural output, population, and wealth. However, in nearby towns, projects caused a decline in population, non-agricultural employment, and firm activity, ultimately impeding the process of structural transformation.

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