Water and growth in an agricultural economy
研究了水资源约束对农业家庭长期投资和消费选择的影响，利用怀俄明州面板数据发现水资源可用性虽非增长决定因素，但可能成为约束条件，且高用水量促进人均农业产出增长。
Abstract We present a model of economic growth of an agricultural household that is faced with an exogenous water availability constraint. We examine the long‐run investment and consumption choices under two scenarios: (i) when the water availability constraint is binding and (ii) when it is not binding. We then compare the two scenarios to derive conditional convergence hypotheses regarding the impact of water availability on long‐run agricultural growth. Panel data from Wyoming are used to test these conditional convergence hypotheses. We find that Wyoming counties exhibit strong conditional convergence in agricultural growth. Our theoretical and empirical results demonstrate that water availability is not a determinant but can be a constraint on long‐run agricultural growth. Higher water use leads to higher growth in agricultural yield per capita but when water rights constrain water use in a county, as we found in southeastern Wyoming, there are significant losses in agricultural growth.