The distribution of economic impacts among rural households: A general equilibrium evaluation of regional water policies

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:6089414

Wernstedt, K

This study focuses on the relative distribution among urban and rural household income classes on the economic impacts of two water-related policies in the Columbia River Basin in the northwestern US. The two policies involve: (1) strategies to improve downstream anadromous fish migrations currently hindered by hydropower operations; and (2) proposals to transfer water from irrigation to hydropower generation. A regional input-output model traces the economic effects of the initial demand and price changes through the entire region. The model incorporates price changes in both a short-run (all endogenous prices are fixed) and a longer-run framework based on a Cobb-Douglas representation (all prices can vary). The analysis suggests that the construction of facilities to enhance fish migration and the physical transport of fish have opposite relative effects. The former benefits rural households, while the latter benefits urban households. Electricity price increases resulting from altered hydropower operations harm middle-income rural households, in the short-run. In the longer-run, electricity price increases seem to favor relatively all rural households. Changes associated with the water transfer policy also include electricity price alterations, as well as price and demand changes for agricultural products. Rural households benefit relative to urban households from agricultural product final demand increases, and tend to lose relatively with agricultural price and demand decreases. The inclusion of secondary impacts allows decision makers to asses the income effects of a project across a wider segment of the population, while the incorporation of short-and longer-run economic frameworks allows policy makers to assess both immediate and future income changes.

• Research Organization: Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6089414
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
130500* -- Hydro Energy-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
AGRICULTURE
ANADROMOUS FISHES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BUILDINGS
COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DECISION MAKING
DEMAND FACTORS
DISTRIBUTION
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ECONOMICS
ELECTRICITY
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EVALUATION
FISHES
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HOUSES
HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
INCOME DISTRIBUTION
INDUSTRY
INPUT-OUTPUT ANALYSIS
IRRIGATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MIGRATION
OPTIMIZATION
POWER GENERATION
POWER PLANTS
PRICES
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RURAL AREAS
TIME DEPENDENCE
URBAN AREAS
VERTEBRATES
WATER POLICY
WATER QUALITY
WATER USE
WATERSHEDS