Seminar

Rain and Impatience: Climatic Factors and Investment in Soil Conservation

Salvatore Di Falco (University of Geneva)

March 2, 2015, 11:00–12:30

Toulouse

Room MS 003

Environment Economics Seminar

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of time preference on investment in conservation in the highlands of Ethiopia. We combine farm household panel data, farm specific weather data, and patience, measured by experiments conducted at two different points in time. We find that rainfall anomalies increase farmers’ elicited impatience and, via this channel, reduce effort in soil conservation. We also provide field evidence that impatience measures are not stable and are affected by climatic factors. These results highlight some important behavioural implications of extreme climatic events.