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Full-Text Articles in Industrial Organization
Drilling In The Drought: The Industrial Organization Of Groundwater, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, E. Somanathan
Drilling In The Drought: The Industrial Organization Of Groundwater, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, E. Somanathan
Ujjayant Chakravorty
China and India together produce about half the world's rice and a third of the world's wheat, but production in both countries is heavily dependent on depleting groundwater resources. A large proportion of farmers buy and sell groundwater - the trading facilitated by small farm sizes and fragments land holdings. The economics of groundwater, when farm sizes are small, is little understood. This paper develops a simple, spatial model of the industrial organization of groundwater markets appropriate for smallholder agriculture. We show that if water is abundant, then equilibrium with free entry results in Bertrand competition, with water sellers charging …
Are Credit Unions In Ecuador Achieving Economies Of Scale?, Nick A. Marchio
Are Credit Unions In Ecuador Achieving Economies Of Scale?, Nick A. Marchio
Economics Honors Projects
This study tests the assertion that membership growth in credit unions is constrained by their unique structural features, such as their non-profit mission and member-based ownership. Although these features enhance inclusiveness, existing theory suggest that they work against efficiency when membership grows too diffuse. To address this issue, this study uses a model that takes into account existing theory on constrained-optimization in credit unions and theory on the adverse effects of diffuse ownership. Using data on 36 public credit unions in Ecuador, the empirical analysis finds evidence that credit unions can achieve economies of scale despite their problematic structural features. …