Environment and Development Economics: Volume 29 - Issue 6

Do women state legislators and administrators make any difference in preventing natural disaster mortality? Evidence from India
Joyita Roy Chowdhury, Yashobanta Parida, Prakash Kumar Sahoo
Published online by Cambridge University Press:

21 October 2024, pp. 457-478
- Article
- - You have access
- PDF
- HTML
- Export citation
We investigate the effect of women's political representation in the state legislative assembly and public administration on natural disaster mortality in 20 Indian states from 1981 to 2019. The paper combines two critical dimensions: political and administrative representation of women and disaster risk reduction. Results suggest that women's political representation reduces total disaster mortality after controlling socioeconomic and political covariates; however, the effects are statistically insignificant for the current and lag periods. We find that a one standard deviation increase in women's representation in public administration lowers total disaster mortality by 20.6 percentage points, which is 9.8 per cent of the sample mean. We observe the impacts of female administrative representation on gender-specific human development outcomes through reduced male and female disaster mortality, and we explain some mechanisms. Thus, women's political and administrative representation is crucial for addressing disaster mortality as it has major public health consequences.

Environmental shocks and agriculture: implications of floods on labor market outcomes
Vikrant K. Kamble, Jayash Paudel, Ashok K. Mishra
Published online by Cambridge University Press:

16 October 2024, pp. 479-498
- Article
- - You have access
  - Open access
- PDF
- HTML
- Export citation
Floods often displace people and exacerbate their access to finance, affecting the livelihood of daily wage workers in least-developed countries. In August 2017, Nepal experienced the heaviest rainfall in more than 60 years, severely flooding about 80 per cent of the land in the southern part of the country. Using the two-way fixed effects approach and an event study design, we evaluate the impact of severe flooding on the wages of agricultural workers. We show that the 2017 floods resulted in a 9–10 per cent decrease in cash wages among agricultural households while in-kind wages of agricultural laborers increased significantly after the floods, implying that in-kind wages helped mitigate the adverse effects of floods on cash wages. We also investigate changes in assistance, loan-seeking behavior, loan repayment, and collection behavior as mechanisms leading to the risk-mitigating behavior by farmers.

Adoption of clean energy cooking technologies in rural households: the role of women
Rossana Tornel-Vázquez, Eva Iglesias, Maria Loureiro
Published online by Cambridge University Press:

28 October 2024, pp. 499-517
- Article
- - You have access
  - Open access
- PDF
- HTML
- Export citation
Ensuring energy access for rural households is crucial for global sustainable development. Technologies like liquefied petroleum gas, biogas, and efficient cookers are touted as solutions, yet their adoption remains limited despite their potential health, economic, and environmental benefits. We conducted a meta-analysis of 50 studies in developing countries, integrating contextual factors to explore gender and other determinants impacting rural energy transition. Our findings underscore socioeconomic status, social capital, environmental concerns, and gender dynamics as pivotal factors. Notably, women's involvement boosts adoption rates by 7.90 per cent, yet cultural barriers often sideline them from these processes. Thus, our recommendations stress addressing women's roles as energy technology users to foster inclusive energy transitions.

Distinguishing potential and effective additionality of forest conservation interventions
Philippe Delacote, Gwenolé Le Velly, Gabriela Simonet
Published online by Cambridge University Press:

15 October 2024, pp. 518-538
- Article
- - You have access
- PDF
- HTML
- Export citation
The additionality of forest conservation interventions is frequently questioned. In particular, they are often considered to be located in places where forests are not threatened, which points to the existence of location biases. Revisiting this location bias concept, we conceptually distinguish potential and effective additionality and theoretically consider how the objectives of the implementer affect the siting choice of the forest conservation interventions and their additionality. Our theoretical intuition is that the choices of the implementers are influenced by the quality of institutions. Our results show that (1) the implementer's objective and local institutions may lead the implementer to select a site with low development potential and low forest threat, and (2) the selection of a site with low development potential, which is frequently presented as a location bias, does not necessarily preclude additionality.

Environment and Development Economics