UC San Diego

This dissertation studies three distinctive aspects of environmental economics. Chapter 1 examines the impact of smoke from fires on agriculture production of the two main U.S. cash crops: corn and soybeans. Linking smoke plume maps derived from satellite images with county-level information on corn and soybean yields, I use a panel data approach to estimate exposure to smoke plumes treating their exact frequency, timing, and location in any year as exogenous shocks. Exposure to one more day of smoke, on average, reduces yields of corn and soybeans by 0.31% and 0.23%, respectively. To help put these results in an economic context for corn and soybeans, a 10% increase in smoke relative to 2019 results in an annual loss of almost $1 billion. Chapter 2 explores the interaction relation of temperature and precipitation with number of outdoor recreation trips. Using detailed information on outdoor recreation trips in England over a four-year period, I use a semi-parametric response surface approach to examine the interaction relation. I found that although daily visits increase with temperature and decrease with rain, these gradients only have small variations across rain or temperature. Interaction of the two variables plays a small role in outdoor recreation. Chapter 3 examines how the introduction of ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft into the U.S. urban market influences trip choice decisions. Using data from the 2009 and 2017 National Household Travel Surveys, I show that the longer Uber and Lyft have been in an urban market, the greater the increase in the 2017 survey trips that were made using taxi/rideshare services relative to the 2009 survey benchmark. This increase is driven by an upward shift that is more pronounced for short and longer distance trips than for middle distance trips and is also more pronounced on weekdays relative to weekends. Ridesharing services are shown to be a substitute for short haul bus trips, but a complement with longer rail trips.