TY - JOUR
T1 - Water markets’ promise
T2 - the Murray-Darling Basin
AU - Debaere, Peter
AU - Li, Tianshu
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors appreciate the funding from the Darden School Foundation, and Tianshu appreciates the Research Development Fund (RDF-22-01-057) from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2022/12/1
Y1 - 2022/12/1
N2 - The very advanced and well-designed water markets in the Murray-Darling Basin are the result of long and complex reforms. Using state-level export data for agricultural and manufacturing sectors, we study the impact of water markets on the allocation of water through the first (1994-2006) and second reform periods (2007-2015), relative to when the markets’ foundations were laid (1988-1993). We find water markets trigger a shift away from the water-intensive (less water-productive) sectors that is most pronounced during droughts in the first reform period. However, improvements in technology and techniques that reduce water intensity (increase water productivity) partially offset such a shift. We also document an inter-sectoral shift of activity between agriculture and manufacturing, as well as address some recent criticisms of water markets’ effectiveness.
AB - The very advanced and well-designed water markets in the Murray-Darling Basin are the result of long and complex reforms. Using state-level export data for agricultural and manufacturing sectors, we study the impact of water markets on the allocation of water through the first (1994-2006) and second reform periods (2007-2015), relative to when the markets’ foundations were laid (1988-1993). We find water markets trigger a shift away from the water-intensive (less water-productive) sectors that is most pronounced during droughts in the first reform period. However, improvements in technology and techniques that reduce water intensity (increase water productivity) partially offset such a shift. We also document an inter-sectoral shift of activity between agriculture and manufacturing, as well as address some recent criticisms of water markets’ effectiveness.
KW - water market
KW - water resources management
KW - water scarcity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144817155&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1748-9326/aca343
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/aca343
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85144817155
SN - 1748-9318
VL - 17
JO - Environmental Research Letters
JF - Environmental Research Letters
IS - 12
M1 - 125003
ER -
