Water Resource Economics: The Analysis Of Scarcity, Policies, And Projects

Preparing link to download Please wait... Download

E-Book Overview

Economics brings powerful insights to water management, but most water professionals receive limited training in it. This text offers a comprehensive development of water resource economics that is accessible to engineers and natural scientists as well as economists. The goal is to build a practical platform for understanding and performing economic analysis using both theoretical and empirical tools. The mathematics needed to understand the subjects covered in this text include basic optimization methods and integral calculus. Familiarity with microeconomics or natural resource economics is helpful, but all the economics needed is presented and developed progressively in the text. Many water-based example calculations are included. Thus the book can be used for independent study as well as course work.The book focuses on the scarcity of water quantity (rather than water quality). The author presents the economic theory of resource allocation, recognizing the peculiarities imposed by water, and expands the theory to encompass time-defined matters such as ground water depletion. He then discusses such subjects as institutional economics, water law, how economics is used in policy and cost-benefit analysis, the roles of water marketing and water pricing, demand and supply estimation, privatization, and modeling with demand and supply functions. As an aid to readers with specific interests, references to recent literature are given for all of these topics. Each chapter ends with a summary and exercises. All graphic portrayals of economic theory and most calculations are performed using Mathematica software. These programs are downloadable, but their use is entirely optional.

E-Book Content

Ronald C. Griffin Water Resource Economics The Analysis of Scarcity, Policies, and Projects Water Resource Economics Water Resource Economics The Analysis of Scarcity, Policies, and Projects Ronald C. Gri‰n The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 6 2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] or write to Special Sales Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. This book was set in Times New Roman on 3B2 by Asco Typesetters, Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gri‰n, Ronald C. Water resource economics : the analysis of scarcity, policies, and projects / Ronald C. Gri‰n. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-262-07267-X (hc : alk. paper) 1. Water resources development—Economic aspects. 2. Water resources development—Government policy. 3. Water-supply—Economic aspects. 4. Water-supply—Government policy. I. Title. 2005051097 HD1691.G745 2006 333.91 0 15—dc22 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Dedicated to wondrous Trish Contents Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii Water Unit Conversions 1 2 xix Introduction 1 1.1 An Array of Decision Types 1 1.2 Amid the Noise 2 1.3 Supply Enhancement and Demand Management 1.4 Future Forces 5 1.5 Economics, Environment, and Equity 7 1.6 Organization and Conventions 8 1.7 Exercises 9 3 Optimal Allocation and Development 11 2.1 Establishing Goals 11 Part I: The Fundamental Economic Theory 13 2.2 The Costs of Water Supply 13 2.3 E‰ciency