Ed.D., Antioch University, 2025, Education

My dissertation focuses on my thesis question: How might an NGO's grassroots efforts in urban Visakhapatnam, India, propagate living justly with animals we encounter and severely Othered humans, beyond attitudes of guardianship, mitigating universalized harms to nature and society? In a transdisciplinary approach examining grassroots programs, my phenomenological study breaks down an animal advocate's assertive practices of—inclusivity and decolonialized lived norms, which persistently transcend cultural antagonisms of caste, ability, gender, sex, class, and form/species—toward creating just pluriversal multispecies communities in Visakhapatnam. Universalized urbanization across the planet has driven irreversible socio-ecological transformation marked by record ecosystem decline. Sustaining the urban via historically patriarchal and colonialized human dominion over other animals and Earth's natural resources reveals our existential disconnect with nature, including our human nature. My analysis claims phenomenologically realized premises observing real actors materializing grassroots formations of interspecies coexistence—working through nexuses of the political, economic, cultural, and religious systems of harm—in efforts toward creating self-determined, just, multispecies communities in Visakhapatnam. This attempts to bridge this gap in scholarship from within the intensities of Visakhapatnam city in urban India. Undoing normative, essentially androcentric, harm that oppresses many and despoils nature is possible. How to wrest political power and demand change-making to address biodiversity loss, food and water insecurity, and unacceptable inequities for Othered humans and animals in urban geographies has been observed and analyzed. More communities and societies applying these phenomenological realizations can help build momentum, lending to many just worlds in one pluriversal world becoming the norm. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https:/ (open full item for complete abstract)

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2025, Environmental Studies

Sustainable methods for crop fertilization in organic Appalchian agriculture are essential in an ever worsening food and climate crisis. Actively aerated compost teas (AACT) present an understudied, yet promising alternative to traditional fertilizers. This study aimed to compare the impacts of farm compost AACT (fc) and industry fertilizer (is) on the growth and yield of Pisum sativum (sugar snap peas), Beta vulgaris (swiss chard), and Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus (radishes). 18 test plants of each species were divided into 3 treatment groups and observed for 45 days once treated until fully mature. Treatments were applied once every 2 weeks and growth metrics were recorded twice per week. Once fully matured, test plants were harvested, dried, and weighed to obtain biomass metrics. Samples of each fc brew were also preserved for lab analysis once treatments were complete. Results showed few statistically significant differences in growth metrics or biomass between treatments. fc however, was shown to more directly impact above ground biomass growth than below ground and to significantly increase mature stem diameter among treated plants of the same species. Lab analysis revealed significant differences in total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and pH levels between fc and is, however this did not correspond to differences in plant growth. Despite a lack of significant increase in plant growth between fc and is, their comparable performance suggests that AACT should be considered a viable method of fertilization in sustainable agroecological systems. As a lower risk and lower cost alternative to standard fertilizer, AACT is ideal for organic agriculture in Appalachia. Future research should focus on eliminating error in the soil uniformity of this study and further analyzing the nutrient properties of AACT.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2025, Environmental Studies

Analyzing food waste as a soil amendment solution in order to revitalize the soil network in Northeast, Ohio. Rust Belt Riders is a worker-owned co-operation in Cleveland, Ohio.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

As environmental challenges intensify globally, quantifying both the costs of ecosystem degradation and the benefits of potential solutions becomes increasingly vital for effective policy development. This dissertation develops the economic valuation of ecosystem services in two interconnected environmental contexts: water quality degradation in recreational fisheries and carbon sequestration potential in crop management as a climate change mitigation strategy. Harmful algal blooms dominated by cyanobacteria (HABs) have been increasing in extent and intensity in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. As they degrade water quality, threaten human health, and alter ecosystem services, behavioral responses by people who recreate in affected waterways remain incompletely understood. The first chapter quantifies the effect of HAB occurrence and intensity on recreational fishing trips by combining spatiotemporally varying measures of cyanobacteria intensity with on-site counts of private boats, charter boats, and shore anglers in 36 of Ohio's Lake Erie harbors during the 2011 to 2018 fishing seasons. Using Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood with a Control Function approach, we find heterogenous responses across fishing types, locations, and time periods. In the westernmost part of the lake, where HABs have been most frequent and severe, avoidance behavior occurs in all three fishing types, with charter boats demonstrating the strongest response. Shore anglers' avoidance extends from the western basin to the west-central basin in terms of geographical extent. Regarding temporal patterns, western basin private boat users avoid HABs on weekdays but show no significant response on weekends. We simulate the change of recreational activities involving various HAB scenarios and climate change scenarios. Collectively, our findings suggest that HABs, which are projected to intensify with climate change, negatively affect Lake Erie's multibillion-dollar fishing economy, providing economic (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

Climate change affects agricultural production through land productivity and multicropping capacities. Given agriculture's substantial contribution to both income and employment in developing economies, evolving agro-climatic conditions can reshape labor reallocation and agricultural production. I develop a dynamic spatial general equilibrium model incorporating farmers' optimal crop choices, international trade, and forward-looking migration. Under RCP 8.5, global welfare effects on agricultural workers are modest but vary significantly across countries. Results highlight that the general equilibrium effects of labor mobility are nontrivial, and domestic structural transformation can play a crucial role in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

This dissertation investigates the long-term impacts of land use policies and historical shocks on urban redevelopment, housing markets, and ownership structures. Using causal inference methods, it examines how public interventions and external disruptions influence neighborhood stability, property values, and private investment. The three chapters provide empirical evidence on foreclosure risk, the effects of land bank acquisitions, and the legacy of wartime destruction on urban form and property ownership. The first chapter explores the capitalization effects of land bank acquisitions on surrounding property values. Employing a semi-log hedonic pricing model, I analyze how proximity to land bank properties—whether slated for demolition or renovation—affects housing prices over time. The results show that land bank interventions help recover nearby property values compared to the period prior to acquisition. Renovated properties tend to generate more sustained price increases, while the positive effects of demolitions are more immediate but less persistent over time. The second chapter assesses the effectiveness of land bank programs in reducing foreclosure risk. Using propensity score matching combined with a staggered difference-in-differences design, I estimate the impact of land bank acquisitions on neighborhood housing stability. The findings reveal a significant decline in foreclosure risk following intervention. The third chapter investigates the legacy effects of World War II bombings on urban redevelopment in Vienna, Austria. Using parcel-level data, I examine how bombing-induced destruction shaped post-war development, particularly in building height, property ownership, and population density. The analysis reveals that bombed areas experienced greater vertical development and increased private ownership fragmentation. Differences in population density between bombed and unbombed block groups suggest long-term shifts in urban structure and agglomerat (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

Effective environmental oversight is essential for addressing environmental concerns. My research explores the determinants and impacts of various oversight approaches on environmental outcomes. The three essays examine a voluntary environmental program in the waste management sector, political influence on regulatory enforcement, and the role of local newspapers in monitoring firms' emissions. The first essay evaluates the efficacy of the Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) in mitigating methane emissions from U.S. municipal solid waste landfills. LMOP is a voluntary program initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to encourage landfill owners to develop landfill gas-to-energy projects for the generation of new energy sources. Using a staggered difference-in-differences approach, our empirical results show that the program increases the likelihood of landfill gas-to-energy project development by nearly 29%, while no significant reduction in fugitive methane emissions is observed. By promoting landfill gas recovery, LMOP helps avoid social costs of carbon, estimated between $156.6 million (5% discount rate) and $527.9 million (3% discount rate) during our study period. The second essay investigates how members of the U.S. Congress influence Clean Air Act inspections. Members of Congress often seek to influence the enforcement of environmental regulations. When they resign or pass away, their vacant seats create a temporary period of independence for regulators. We find that Democratic congressional vacancies lead to a 26.1% reduction in the likelihood of an inspection and a 28.6% decrease in the number of inspections compared to when Democratic members are in office. This finding suggests that regulators may increase inspections to align with the preferences of Democratic incumbents, then revert to previous levels once those members leave Congress. However, these effects of Democratic vacancies become insignificant when regulatory discretion (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

With more than 55% of the global population now living in cities and 68% projected by 2050, urbanization generates tremendous societal benefits. However, cities are embedded within the natural environment; they affect and are affected by natural systems, including increasing impacts of pollution, natural disasters, and climate change. Urbanization is also a long-term process involving urban development and redevelopment, environmental degradation and restoration, and other neighborhood changes that are spurred by spatial spillovers among people and firms and shaped by public policies. This dissertation studies these spatial interactions and their implications for social welfare and policy. The first chapter examines the gentrification effect of the Atlanta BeltLine, an urban redevelopment project that transforms the former railway corridor into a multi-use trail with urban and environmental amenities. I build a quantitative spatial equilibrium model with heterogeneous labor to characterize income sorting in response to amenity increases due to the BeltLine, calibrated to match observed housing price rises. I find that this amenity rise disproportionately attracts high-skilled over low-skilled residents and alters the welfare distribution both across regions and income groups, leading to significant neighborhood change and gentrification. Increasing land supply by relaxing zoning regulations can mitigate the gentrification induced by the BeltLine. In the second chapter, I investigate the extent to which roads and highways expand the spatial scale of urban areas in China. To overcome the potential endogeneity problem, I employ the 1962 highway network as the instrumental variable and take advantage of several measurements of urbanized areas. The two-stage least-squares results show that the lengths of roads and highways within a city have a positive effect on the spatial scale of urban areas. The IV quantile regression confirms that for cities with a larger scale of (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2025, Media and Communication

Illegal gold mining, locally known as galamsey, has resulted in widespread environmental degradation in Ghana, particularly through water pollution,deforestation and public health crises. Despite regulatory efforts, affected communities continue to suffer, prompting renewed citizen-led activism. Between September and October 2024, thousands of Ghanaians mobilized both online and offline under the #StopGalamsey protest campaign, drawing national and international attention to the ecological and social consequences of illegal mining. This study critically examines how visual, digital, and embodied rhetorics shaped this protest movement, and how citizens, civil society organizations, and media institutions engaged in advocacy for environmental justice. Rooted in intersectionality and environmental justice theory, and drawing from an intercultural science communication lens, this thesis adopts a multi-method qualitative approach. It analyzes 1,313 tweets and 1,067 Instagram posts from 16 media, activist, and civil society accounts; three Daily Graphic editorials; and ten protest visuals from legacy media outlets and a civil society group, focusing on the peak of the #StopGalamsey protests, September 21 to October 31, 2024. The thematic and visual analysis uncovered four key themes: environmental and health crisis, protest and resistance, government accountability and policy failure, and media and civil society influence. Findings reveal that social media played a crucial role in mobilization, civic engagement, and transnational solidarity. Protest visuals including infographics, live protest photography and an artwork used symbolism, irony, and emotion to emphasize the urgency of the crisis. Women activists faced distinct forms of repression, revealing intersectional vulnerabilities within the environmental justice movement. Traditional media, including BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and Reuters, amplified these messages globally, while Daily Graphic editorials mirrored citize (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2024, Mechanical Engineering

Water scarcity is a growing challenge worldwide, resulting from increased population growth, industrial practices, and shifting climates. Researchers have been studying reliable, efficient, and cost effective, ways and techniques to obtain high quality fresh water using both a renewable and clean energy source such as power from solar energy or solar thermal concentration. Independent, self-operated, and low maintenance systems are highly desired for desalination systems. Deployable, solar-thermal desalination systems are promising technologies for promoting water security and sustainable community development in remote or storm-damaged coastal regions. However, these systems produce less distillate per unit energy input compared to industrial- scale desalination systems. The introduction of novel, metallic wicks in these systems increases distillate efficiency by generating an evaporation interface. It is proposed that metallic wicks with optimized micro-structure porous properties, i.e. porosity, permeability, capillary pressure, etc., will further increase distillate yields in capillary-driven desalination modules. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of metallic wicks for increased distillate production at low-temperature (< 60 °C) operation. Many other studies assessed the quality of the distilled water, but they did not evaluate the salt accumulated at the water- vapor interface within the wick resulted from the evaporation. Another important issue that impacts the passive flow resulted from the wicking action is the dry-out that might occur within the metallic wick in the porous medium due to the evaporation process. A two-dimensional, steady-state heat and mass transfer study was performed to investigate the impact of various microstructure properties such as porosity and permeability, and environmental conditions such as solar irradiation on the distillate yield, wick dry-out, and salt diffusion/precipitation within candidate porous media struct (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Environment and Natural Resources

Building on the literature surrounding recreational fishing economic valuation techniques and angler behavioral analysis, this dissertation investigates how economic and demographic data can better represent angler behaviors, motivations, and economic contributions across diverse angler groups in Ohio. Through three empirical studies, this dissertation addresses key aspects of angler engagement: economic impact, gender-based differences, and avidity bias in online surveys while also identifying methodological techniques. The findings of this dissertation underscore the potential for targeted angler surveys and avidity-adjusted economic models to produce actionable data that fisheries managers can use to inform resource allocation and policy decisions. Each of the three chapters presents an empirical study that contributes to the understanding of angler behavior in Ohio. In Chapter 2, I apply a non-market valuation technique, the travel cost method to quantify the economic contributions of recreational fishing in Ohio, employing 15 negative binomial models to estimate consumer surplus across five different waterbodies, and ten fish species to conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of recreational fisheries in Ohio. This study illustrates the significant recreational value of fisheries in Ohio that demands for more specific, waterbody/location-based management strategies to support targeted management decisions by resource managers. Chapter 3 builds on the topic by examining gender-based differences in angler behaviors in Ohio. By analyzing responses collected through a balanced, stratified sampling design, this study reveals notable distinctions in the fishing motivations and spending patterns between male and female anglers, underscoring the importance of gender inclusive data in shaping recreational fishing management strategies. Insights from Chapter 3 highlight the substantial contributions of female anglers to Ohio's recreational fishing and underscore the ne (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

In this dissertation, I model household behavior with respect to incentives and natural resources, with the goal of understanding the effects that individual's decisions have on their environment, and how the benefits of natural resources accrue to households. In my first chapter, I develop a spatial model of cattle ranchers responses to wolves and model their response to exogenous payments. Effective payments for conservation are an important tool to provide transfers between those who derive utility from wildlife and those who bear the economic costs in order to reduce poaching and promote coexistence. I build upon previous models to consider how these payments should be applied over space when farmers face heterogeneous depredation risk and thus heterogeneous incentives to poach wildlife. I find that while ex-post payments induce higher stocking rates as suggested by the previous literature, the effect is small compared to the ex-ante payment level needed to push farmers into the corner solution of zero poaching via ex-ante payments. I compare commonly used uniform ex-post compensation to spatially targeted compensation, finding that poaching can be reduced further by targeted payments given a limited government agency budget, and that, if ex-ante payments can be targeted, both types of payments can reduce poaching with similar costs. This work contributes to the literature on impact evaluation for payments for ecosystem services to promote conservation by considering spatial heterogeneity, and is the first to combine spatial risk mapping with farmer response to conservation payments. This work has important implications for the design and implementation of payments for conservation. In my second chapter, I quantify the effect of forest cover in mitigating acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in rural children in India. Acute respiratory infections, dependent on both indoor and outdoor air quality, have serious effects on the long-term well being of children. (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

Stated preference (SP) methods such as Contingent Valuation (CV) and Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) appear widely across disciplines to estimate the economic value for both market and non-market goods/services. To ensure the validity and reliability of SP studies, one key assumption is that respondents' stated decisions can truthfully reflect their underlying preferences in a consistent and stable manner. However, this assumption can be violated by the existence of hypothetical bias (HB) often associated with a hypothetical choice environment, as well as ordering effects (Penn and Hu, 2018; Day et al., 2012). HB describes the divergence between individuals' responses in hypothetical valuations, often in the form of a survey, and revealed behaviors in the real market. One reason HB can take place is when there are no actual payment consequences, some respondents may not feel obligated to answer the survey questions seriously, and sometimes they may even behave strategically to influence the outcome of the survey. We refer to these responses as unqualified as the respondents deviate from the survey instructions. Researchers typically disqualify these responses from entering the final data for analysis. However, there are many types of unqualified responses. Subsequently, two issues may follow. First, a universal approach to purging all possible unqualified responses does not exist. Second, given a specific type of unqualified behavior, there is rarely agreement on what the threshold researchers need to rely on to define what responses are unqualified. Therefore, the first chapter explores the overlaps between three common types of disqualifying behavior (protest, inconsequentiality, and inattention) to see whether such overlaps are large enough thus enabling one common measure to clean all three types of unqualified responses. This chapter further examines whether different combinations from different definitions or thresholds used to capture unqualified response (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, Economics

Climate change is one of the most pervasive issues for society in the modern world. To successfully mitigate the devastating consequences of this phenomenon without sacrificing economic growth, the positive income-emissions nexus must be broken. In this paper, I asses the United States' progress along this dimension by investigating the time-varying effect of GDP on emissions from 1850-2018. I distinguish between the cyclical and trend relationship between income and emissions and utilize a Bayesian Time-Varying-Parameter (TVP) model to determine the effect of GDP on emissions over time. I find weak evidence that the United States follows the often-proposed Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in the trend and base components of the nexus: the effect of GDP on emissions has significantly weakened over time but remains positive. Additionally, I present evidence that income and emissions have relatively decoupled for all components of the nexus, casting doubt on “degrowth” arguments, wherein this is only possible if economic growth slows. I find that since the 2000s, the long-run relationship of GDP and emissions has further decoupled, while the short-run relationship has intensified. I provide evidence that the United States' increasingly green energy mix is a driver of this heterogeneity.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays on agri-food systems with regards to consumer behavior, agricultural land use outcomes and market prices utilizing scanner data and geo-referenced spatial data. Across three essays, I examine how consumers and agricultural producers perceive and respond to changes in the agri-food systems over time and space in the context of urbanization, agricultural intensification and accelerating climate change. In chapter 1, I model household averting expenditure in response to public water supply contamination by Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in Lake Erie. Increasingly frequent Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are generating growing public concern and attracting new policy focus both across the United States and globally. One particularly acute problem with HABs is the potential impact on drinking water safety due to high levels of microcystin toxins in the public water supply. I study households' averting expenditure in response to a HAB outbreak in the Toledo, OH water supply. Using household level data from the NielsenIQ consumer panel for bottled water purchases, I estimate both post-matching difference-in-difference models and household fixed effect models of averting behavior. The results provide the first revealed preference estimates of averting expenditure associated with drinking water contamination by HABs. I find that household averting behavior in response to a three-day water advisory persists beyond the transitory event period with a declining magnitude over time. The results imply a total averting expenditure of $792,950 across all affected households serviced by the Toledo public water supply. A version of this work is published in Environmental and Resource Economics. In chapter 2, I study the producer end of the agri-food system and model farmers' choices of high-value specialty crops in response to rising local food demand in a rapidly urbanizing area, the city Columbus, Ohio. Competing pressure from urbanization co (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Horticulture and Crop Science

High amounts of sediments with valuable properties to soils are dredged every year from Lake Erie. These dredging operations occur while societies discuss circular economy principles to foster the reuse of wastes with direct implications for regenerative agriculture. Examining the inter-linkage relationships across existing value chains that enable circular economies to flourish is necessary. This study uses a mixed-mode approach to explore stakeholders' perceptions and market conditions to structure a sustainable market route for Lake Erie's dredged sediment (LES) as a commercial substrate. This study analyzes the perception and interest of substrate industry stakeholders in trading LES. Using qualitative analysis, we combine case study content analysis and ChainPlan methodologies into one framework to interpret in-depth interview data. Two key findings arise. A certification program and a centralized marketing program to educate consumers are required to sustain a market route for LES. We also estimate end-users' willingness to pay (WTP) for a substrate product's credence attribute associated with alleviating Lake Erie's environmental pressure. A discrete choice experiment was conducted to simulate purchasing decisions. We employ a Random Parameter Logit regression model to examine end-user preference heterogeneity. The three metropolitan communities analyzed value credence attributes associated with aiding Lake Erie. We found that the mean WTP for the aiding credence attribute is higher in Cleveland (3.23$) and Toledo (2.17$) compared to Columbus (0.91$), evidencing a higher environmental awareness in cities near the shore. The study concludes with ii strategic marketing recommendations to include LES in a regional circular economy in Northern Ohio.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

From a farmer to a policymaker, various stakeholders influence and are affected by the agricultural environment. This dissertation includes three essays that delve into the decision-making within the agricultural environment, exploring the incentives and outcomes for the stakeholders involved. With a focus on countries significant for global agriculture and food supply, these essays have important implications domestically and for the United States. My first essay evaluates herding as a potential source of bias in the USDA's international baseline projections. As USDA's annual Agricultural Baseline Projections contribute significantly to agricultural policy in the United States, their accuracy is vital. Although the bias in the baselines has been documented in the literature, its sources have not been evaluated yet. I propose herding, a behavioral phenomenon, as a potential bias-inducing choice in the preparation of the projections. My results provide strong evidence for the herding of projection trends toward the United States and suggest that herding is rational and error-reducing only for corn yield and wheat import projections but not for other crops and variables, thereby impacting not only the agricultural policy in the US but also global agricultural markets. The second essay evaluates the impact of an environmental policy that restricts land use for farmers in the context of the Brazilian Amazon, an area of crucial importance for global food supply. By analyzing the effects on both landowning farmers and landless peasants, this study examines the incentives generated and their subsequent influence on illegal occupations and land conflicts. The findings suggest that the policy leads to an increase in illegal occupations while decreasing land conflicts. Furthermore, by exploring heterogeneity in the impact relative to land values, I find that landowning farmers and squatters both make strategic choices about whether to engage in conflict depending on the (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Horticulture and Crop Science

This study aims to enhance the understanding of decision-makers regarding growth trends in the global biopesticide market. For that, this research employs a national survey with agricultural producers and practitioners to collect primary data on biopesticide use and recommendations, attitudes toward macro and microorganisms commercially available in the US, knowledge levels surrounding Integrated Pest Management (IPM), farming practices, and demographic characteristics. We conducted a Probit regression model to identify key factors that influence customers' loyalty to biopesticides. Prior, it was utilized factor and cluster analyses to identify unique market segments based on participants' stated attitudes and behaviors. The research identified four segments, with one of them being called “Conventional”. Results show that the probability of becoming continuous users of biopesticides is evenly distributed among the remaining three segments: “Innovative & Competitive”, “Compliant”, and “Independent”. The findings challenge the idea that the biopesticides market dynamics are solely rooted in the dichotomy between specialty crops and other commodities, such as grains and forage crops. This research reveals that self-reported awareness and evaluation of IPM skills have a significant impact on loyalty towards biopesticides. Results also suggest that the biopesticide market has progressed from its initial stage and is currently experiencing a growth phase. This study reveals how the biological input market works, what the key characteristics of growers who drive the market are, and stresses the significance of adapting strategies for different customer groups.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

Sustainability assessment is increasingly important due to concerns over increasing carbon damages and declining natural capital stocks. However, regional assessment is difficult due to lack of data and measurement, as well as theoretical issues due to how people and resources flow across space. The Inclusive Wealth (IW) framework offers a comprehensive approach to measuring the components of regional social welfare as the aggregate value of all capital assets in the region, and non-declining social welfare proxied by non-declining IW is defined as weak sustainability. In my three essays, I expand on the IW literature by creating novel regional estimates using the ideas of spatial equilibrium to estimate human capital, include population change within IW, and explain the spatial inequality of IW. Chapter 1 lays the groundwork for subsequent chapters by generating new regional measurements of human and health human capital by separating out the effect of health on productivity and increased well-being. I account for the inter-relationship between education and health, control for local amenities and sorting, and account for the impact of ecosystem services and social capital on health quality. I find that 47\% of counties are declining in total human capital from 2010-2017, the primary component of these declines is declining health quality which gets capitalized into productivity. These results emphasize urban-rural differences in human capital investment because a similar proportion of urban and rural counties are declining in health quality, but urban counties are able to compensate with increases in education to offset declines in health quality for productivity. Chapter 2 builds on Chapter 1 and creates an expanded IW regional framework which accounts for endogenous population and the interdependence of population and capital stock flows. I then empirically implement this approach to estimate the impact of exogenous population growth through agglomeratio (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

The natural environment provides numerous ecosystem services like water purification, climate change mitigation, the provision of fuel, food, and fodder, and support for biodiversity to communities globally. Therefore, it is important that we understand how we can better conserve vital natural resources for which no substitutes exist. While programs are designed to address conservation issues, they may not be perfect and be able to achieve their respective policy goals. Impact evaluation on these programs is a major tool to examine if a conservation program leads to desirable impacts and results to the intended outcome. Combining microeconomic theory with geospatial data, in my dissertation, I assess the impact of interventions aimed at protecting natural resources and examine the consequences of environmental degradation on human health. The first chapter, “Broken Forests: Deforestation and Forest Fragmentation Increase Malaria Incidence among Young Children in Rural Liberia,” evaluates the impact of forest fragmentation on malaria in a rural Sub-Saharan Africa setting, where the burden of malaria is high. I combine high-resolution satellite data on forests with individual-level data on malaria incidence among children under five years of age in rural Liberia to test whether forest fragmentation increases malaria incidence. Using cross-sectional hierarchical linear and fixed effects panel data models, I find that a 1-ha increase in fragmented forest resulted in, on average, 2-4 children more with malaria within a sampled cluster, ceteris paribus. This result suggests that effective anti-malaria efforts need to also focus on conserving forests, specifically reducing forest fragmentation. In the second chapter, “Does establishing commercial forest tenure exacerbate deforestation? The evidence from Liberia”, I investigate the impact of commercial property rights on the forest cover loss in a developing country context. The chapter exploited the 2006 forest (open full item for complete abstract)