Research Seminars @ Illinois

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Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.

To have your events added or removed from this calendar, please contact OUR at ugresearch@illinois.edu

Speaker Gowthami Venkateswaran - Unintended Environmental and Health Consequences of Distortionary Fertilizer Subsidies

Event Type: Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor: Practice Job Talk - IPAD (International Policy & Development)
Location: 426 Mumford Hall
Date: Nov 21, 2024 12:30 - 1:30 pm
Speaker: Gowthami Venkateswaran, PhD Student, UIUC Dept. ACE
Views: 39
Originating Calendar: ACE Seminars; Abstract
Governments worldwide subsidize agricultural inputs to support farmers and increase food production. Subsidies that result in exceptionally low prices encourage farmers to deviate from optimal application levels and result in the overuse of fertilizers. This paper examines the unintended environmental and health consequences of increased fertilizer use driven by a selective subsidy reform. In 2010, India implemented a subsidy change favoring nitrogen, which led to lower prices for nitrogen relative to phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Leveraging the timing of this policy and exploiting exogenous variation in pre-determined geographic characteristics such as soil texture and river flow direction, I find significant effects of the subsidy on nitrate pollution in downstream river bodies and infant mortality in rural areas. Particularly, I find that a 50% increase in nitrate levels post policy result in 0.03 additional deaths in rural DHS clusters.

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