Associate Professor
Department of Ag and Resource Economics
University of California Davis
Eric C. Edwards
Journal Publications
with Wally Thurman. In press at Journal of Economic History.
Coverage: The Secret Behind the U. S. Corn Belt
Water, Dust, and Environmental Justice: The Case of Agricultural Water Diversions. 2025.
with Ryan Abman and Danae Hernandez-Cortes. In press at American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
Coverage: Courthouse News, KCBS Radio, Inside Climate News, KPBS TV
The Capitalization of Property Rights to Groundwater. 2025.
with Nathan Hendricks and Gabe Sampson. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 107(2), pp. 390-410.
The Economics of Drought. 2024.
with Leslie Sanchez and Sheetal Sekhri. Annual Review of Resource Economics, vol. 16, pp. 105-124.
Dynamic Pricing Framework for Water Demand Management Using Advanced Metering Infrastructure Data. 2024.
with Faisal M. Alghamdi and Emily Z. Berglund. In press at Water Resources Research, vol. 60(9), e2023WR035246.
Manure Nutrient Cycling in U.S. Animal Agriculture Basins – North Carolina Case Study. 2024.
with Luis Huezo, Daniela Jones, and Mahmoud Sharara. Journal of Environmental Quality, vol. 53(2), pp. 198-208.
Paper Water, Wet Water, and the Recognition of Indigenous Property Rights. 2023.
with Leslie Sanchez and Bryan Leonard. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(6), pp. 1545–1579.
Center for Indian Country Development Working Paper No. 2022-01
Summary: Study: Tribal Water Rights Underutilized in U.S. West
Coverage: NC State Audio Abstract (podcast), The Hill, High Country News, Grist
Teaching Price Elasticity of Demand and Marginal Analysis using Household Water Pricing. 2023.
with Sara Sutherland and Anastasia Hassett. Applied Economics Teaching Resources, vol 5(3). DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.338390
Property Rights to Land and Agricultural Organization: An Argentina-United States Comparison. 2022.
with Martin Fiszbein and Gary Libecap. The Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 65(S1), pp.1-33.
The Impact of Property Rights to Fish on Remote Communities in Alaska. 2022.
with Sara A. Sutherland. Land Economics, vol. 98(2), pp. 239-253.
CEnREP Working Paper No. 19-018
with Steven M. Smith. Environmental Research Letters, vol. 16, 124020.
Summary: Irrigation, Water Management Play Key Roles in Smoothing Drought Impacts
The Economics of Groundwater Governance Institutions Across the Globe. 2021.
with Todd Guilfoos. Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy, vol. 43(4), pp. 1571-1594.
AEPP 2022 Best Article Award
CEnREP Working Paper No. 20-001
Summary: Around the Globe, Groundwater Requires Local Governance
The Economics of Indigenous Water Claim Settlements in the American West. 2020.
with Leslie Sanchez and Bryan Leonard. Environmental Research Letters, vol. 15, 094027.
Summary: In the Water-Scarce American West, Tribal Water Rights Play an Important Role
Predator-Prey Dynamics in General Equilibrium and the Role of Trade. 2020.
with Dong-Hun Go and Reza Oladi. Resource and Energy Economics, vol. 61, 101174.
Irrigation Investment on an American Indian Reservation. 2020.
with Muyang Ge and Sherzod Akhundjanov. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 102(4), pp.1083-1104.
AAEA 2021 Quality of Research Discovery, Honorable Mention
AARES 2022 Quality of Research Discovery Award – Early/Mid-Career Researchers
CEnREP Working Paper No. 18-017
Summary: Investment and Irrigation on an American Indian Reservation
The Cost of Addressing Saline Lake Decline and the Potential for Water Conservation Markets. 2019.
with Sarah Null. Science of the Total Environment, vol. 651 Part 1, 19, pp. 435-442.
Summary: Innovative markets could protect the world’s endangered saline lakes on the cheap
The Role of Irrigation in the Development of Agriculture in the United States. 2018.
with Steven Smith. Journal of Economic History, vol. 78 no. 4, pp. 1-39.
Summary: Water access key driver of long-term agricultural productivity in western U.S.
An Illiquid Market in the Desert: Estimating the Cost of Water Trade Restrictions in Northern Chile. 2018.
with Gary Libecap, Oscar Cristi, and Gonzalo Edwards. Environment and Development Economics, vol. 23 no. 6, pp. 615-634.
Summary: The cost of water regulation in northern Chile
How Transaction Costs Obstruct Collective Action: Evidence from California's Groundwater. 2018.
with Andrew Ayres and Gary Libecap. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 91, pp. 46-65.
Summary: Collective management of shared water resource is easier said than done
Economic Insight from Utah’s Water Efficiency Supply Curve. 2017.
with Ryan Bosworth, Amber Burrows*, Patrick Adams*, Vivane Baji*, Shelly Jones*, and Coleman Gerdes*. Water, 9(3): 214;
*USU undergraduate researchers
Link to spreadsheet with data and analysis
What Lies Beneath? Aquifer Heterogeneity and the Economics of Groundwater Management. 2016.
Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 3 no. 2, pp. 453-91.
Link to dataset and code in HydroShare
with Quentin Grafton, Gary Libecap, Bob O'Brien, and Clay Landry. Water Policy, 14(2):175-93.
Book Chapters
The Economics of Climatic Adaptation: Agricultural Drainage in the United States, with Wally Thurman. 2023. G. Libecap and A. Dinar Eds. American Agriculture, Water Resources, and Climate Change, University of Chicago Press and NBER.
The Colonial Origins of Diverse Property-Rights to Land and the Long-Term Economic Implications in North and South America, with Martin Fiszbein and Gary Libecap. 2023. Ernst Nordtveit ed. The Changing Role of Property Law; Rights, Values, and Concepts. Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA, pp. 54-80.
Contracting and the Commons: Linking the Insight of Elinor Ostrom and Gary Libecap. 2020.
with Bryan Leonard. The Environmental Optimism of Elinor Ostrom. Center for Growth and Opportunity, pp.149-172. (Peer-reviewed)
Water Institutions and the Law of One Price. 2015.
with Gary Libecap. R. Halvorsen and D.F. Layton eds. Handbook on the Economics of Natural Resources. Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA, pp. 442-473.