UC Berkeley

This dissertation discusses topics in the microeconomics of water resource economics and agricultural extension. In one chapter I use a hedonic model to explain the price of land transactions, and from this an implied value of irrigation water is inferred. In a separate chapter I develop measures of willingness-to-pay for water supply reliability measures, and estimate how consumers respond to changes in the price of residential water. My final chapter develops a model of a farmer's decision to invest in learning from agricultural technicians about a new integrated pest management technology that improves yields and reduces agricultural run-off of pesticides into surface waterways. Each chapter is grounded in microeconomic models of decision-making.