IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/deveco/v96y2011i2p432-450.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The distributional impact of large dams: Evidence from cropland productivity in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Strobl, Eric
  • Strobl, Robert O.

Abstract

We examine the distributional impact of large dams on cropland productivity in Africa. As our unit of analysis we use a hydrology based spatial breakdown of the continent that allows one to exactly define regions in terms of their upstream/downstream relationship at a highly disaggregated level. We then use satellite data to derive measures of cropland productivity within these areas. Our econometric analysis shows that while regions downstream benefit from large dams, no beneficial effects accrue to cropland within the vicinity. Moreover, we find that the productivity enhancing impact of upstream dams is dependent on the local climate. Overall our results suggest that upstream dams have quantitatively on average provided up to 12% of the minimum daily per capita amount of kilocalorie needs in downstream communities and increased agricultural production by 1%.

Suggested Citation

  • Strobl, Eric & Strobl, Robert O., 2011. "The distributional impact of large dams: Evidence from cropland productivity in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 432-450, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:96:y:2011:i:2:p:432-450
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387810000891
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Driscoll, John C., 2004. "Does bank lending affect output? Evidence from the U.S. states," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 451-471, April.
    2. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    3. Shaohua Chen & Martin Ravallion, 2010. "The Developing World is Poorer than We Thought, But No Less Successful in the Fight Against Poverty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(4), pages 1577-1625.
    4. Ravallion, Martin, 1994. "Measuring Social Welfare with and without Poverty Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 359-364, May.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/6159 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Marc L. Imhoff & Lahouari Bounoua & Taylor Ricketts & Colby Loucks & Robert Harriss & William T. Lawrence, 2004. "Global patterns in human consumption of net primary production," Nature, Nature, vol. 429(6994), pages 870-873, June.
    7. Salvador Barrios & Luisito Bertinelli & Eric Strobl, 2010. "Trends in Rainfall and Economic Growth in Africa: A Neglected Cause of the African Growth Tragedy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 350-366, May.
    8. Oecd, 2009. "Climate Change and Africa," OECD Journal: General Papers, OECD Publishing, vol. 2009(1), pages 5-35.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aravind Moorthy & Thomas Coen & Katie Naeve & Jeremy Brecher-Haimson & Sarah Hughes, "undated". "Evaluation of the Irrigation and Water Resource Management Project in Senegal: Design Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c9f29d5746b14250b145a2030, Mathematica Policy Research.
    2. Qingqian He & Qing Meng & William Flatley & Yaqian He, 2022. "Examining the Effects of Agricultural Aid on Forests in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Causal Analysis Based on Remotely Sensed Data of Sierra Leone," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, April.
    3. repec:ags:aaea22:335448 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Sheila M. Olmstead & Hilary Sigman, 2015. "Damming the Commons: An Empirical Analysis of International Cooperation and Conflict in Dam Location," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 497-526.
    5. Costa, Francisco J M & Szerman, Dimitri & Assunção, Juliano, 2018. "Local Economic Impacts of Hydroelectric Power Plants: Evidence from Brazil," SocArXiv kzhs6, Center for Open Science.
    6. Ulrich J. Eberle, 2020. "Damned by dams? Infrastructure and conflict," CEP Discussion Papers dp1694, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Kwadwo Owusu & Paul W. K. Yankson & Alex B. Asiedu & Peter B. Obour, 2017. "Resource utilization conflict in downstream non‐resettled communities of the Bui Dam in Ghana," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 234-243, November.
    8. Blakeslee, David & Dar, Aaditya & Fishman, Ram & Malik, Samreen & Pellegrina, Heitor S. & Bagavathinathan, Karan Singh, 2023. "Irrigation and the spatial pattern of local economic development in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Sawada, Yasuyuki, 2015. "The Impacts of Infrastructure in Development: A Selective Survey," ADBI Working Papers 511, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    10. He, Xi, 2023. "Dams, cropland productivity, and economic development in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. François Bareille & Raja Chakir & Charles Regnacq, 2024. "Rainwater shocks and economic growth: The role of the water cycle partition [Chocs de l'eau de pluie et croissance économique : Le rôle de la partition du cycle de l'eau]," Post-Print hal-04698458, HAL.
    12. Eberle, Ulrich, 2020. "Damned by dams? Infrastructure and conflict," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108457, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Mettetal, Elizabeth, 2019. "Irrigation dams, water and infant mortality: Evidence from South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 17-40.
    14. Mohammed, Y.S. & Mustafa, M.W. & Bashir, N., 2013. "Status of renewable energy consumption and developmental challenges in Sub-Sahara Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 453-463.
    15. Thomas Coen & Sarah M. Hughes & Matthew Ribar & William Valletta & Kristen Velyvis, "undated". "Evaluation of the Irrigation and Water Resource Management Project in Senegal: Interim Evaluation Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports d61e6ded74a24d40a2121bd80, Mathematica Policy Research.
    16. Sawada Yasuyuki & Shoji Masahiro & Sugawara Shinya & Shinkai Naoko, 2014. "The Role of Infrastructure in Mitigating Poverty Dynamics: The Case of an Irrigation Project in Sri Lanka," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 1117-1144, July.
    17. Andrea J. Lund & David Lopez-Carr & Susanne H. Sokolow & Jason R. Rohr & Giulio A. De Leo, 2021. "Agricultural Innovations to Reduce the Health Impacts of Dams," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-8, February.
    18. Hyland, Marie & Russ, Jason, 2019. "Water as destiny – The long-term impacts of drought in sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 30-45.
    19. Molly Lipscomb & A. Mushfiq Mobarak & Tania Barham, 2013. "Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 200-231, April.
    20. Mélanie Gittard & Irène Hu, 2024. "MiningLeaks Water Pollution and Child Mortality in Africa," CIRED Working Papers halshs-04685390, HAL.
    21. Russ,Jason Daniel & Zaveri,Esha Dilip & Damania,Richard & Desbureaux,Sebastien Gael & Escurra,Jorge Jose & Rodella,Aude-Sophie, 2020. "Salt of the Earth : Quantifying the Impact of Water Salinity on Global Agricultural Productivity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9144, The World Bank.
    22. Mary, Sebastien, 2022. "Dams mitigate the effect of rainfall shocks on Hindus-Muslims riots," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    23. Zaveri, Esha D. & Russ, Jason & Damania, Richard, 2017. "Drenched Fields and Parched Farms: Evidence along the Extensive and Intensive Margins," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258409, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    24. Wan, Guanghua & Wang, Chen & Zhang, Xun & Zuo, Congming, 2024. "Income inequality effect of public utility infrastructure: Evidence from rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elodie Blanc & Eric Strobl, 2014. "Is Small Better? A Comparison of the Effect of Large and Small Dams on Cropland Productivity in South Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(3), pages 545-576.
    2. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.
    3. Boris O. K. Lokonon & Aly A. Mbaye, 2019. "Implications of Climate-Related Factors on Living Standards: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(2), pages 1404-1417.
    4. Ravallion, Martin, 2010. "The Developing World's Bulging (but Vulnerable) Middle Class," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 445-454, April.
    5. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Strobl, Eric, 2014. "Climate Change, Hydro-Dependency, and the African Dam Boom," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 84-98.
    6. Pritchard, Rose & Ryan, Casey M. & Grundy, Isla & van der Horst, Dan, 2018. "Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity and Rural Livelihoods: Findings From Six Villages in Zimbabwe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 115-124.
    7. Faqin Lin & Ermias O. Weldemicael & Xiaosong Wang, 2017. "Export sophistication increases income in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from 1981–2000," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1627-1649, June.
    8. Somlanare Romuald KINDA & Félix BADOLO, 2014. "Climatic Variability and Food Security in Developing Countries," Working Papers 201405, CERDI.
    9. Anton Vrieling & Kirsten Beurs & Molly Brown, 2011. "Variability of African farming systems from phenological analysis of NDVI time series," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 455-477, December.
    10. Linguère Mously Mbaye & Alassane Drabo, 2017. "Natural Disasters and Poverty Reduction: Do Remittances Matter?," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 63(4), pages 481-499.
    11. KASRI, RAHMATINA & Ahmed, Habib, 2015. "Assessing Socio-Economic Development based on Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah Principles: Normative Frameworks, Methods and Implementation in Indonesia," Islamic Economic Studies, The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), vol. 23, pages 73-100.
    12. Henderson, J. Vernon & Storeygard, Adam & Deichmann, Uwe, 2017. "Has climate change driven urbanization in Africa?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 60-82.
    13. Vojtech, Cindy M. & Kay, Benjamin S. & Driscoll, John C., 2020. "The real consequences of bank mortgage lending standards," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    14. Henderson, J. Vernon & Storeygard, Adam & Deichmann, Uwe, 2014. "50 years of urbanization in Africa : examining the role of climate change," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6925, The World Bank.
    15. Elodie Blanc & Eric Strobl, 2013. "The impact of climate change on cropland productivity: evidence from satellite based products at the river basin scale in Africa," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 117(4), pages 873-890, April.
    16. Masami Imai & Seitaro Takarabe, 2009. "Bank Integration and Local Credit Cycle:Evidence from Japan," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2009-002, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    17. Mirza Nouman Ali Talib & Masood Ahmed & Mirza Muhammad Naseer & Beata Slusarczyk & József Popp, 2021. "The Long-Run Impacts of Temperature and Rainfall on Agricultural Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    18. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-454 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Dino Collalti, 2024. "The Economic Dynamics After a Flood: Evidence from Satellite Data," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(9), pages 2401-2428, September.
    20. Brückner, Markus & Lederman, Daniel, 2012. "Trade causes growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6007, The World Bank.
    21. Cécile Couharde & Rémi Generoso, 2015. "Hydro-climatic thresholds and economic growth reversals in developing countries: an empirical investigation," EconomiX Working Papers 2015-26, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dams Agricultural productivity Africa;

    JEL classification:

    • O20 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - General
    • Q19 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:96:y:2011:i:2:p:432-450. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/devec .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.