David Stifel
Biographic Data
| ID | 6454343 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Stifel |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Stifel |
| SIGNATURE | STIFEL D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Lafayette College |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3771-0255 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 118 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Solar-powered irrigation in Nepal
In recent years, use of solar-powered irrigation pumps (SIPs) has increased significantly in the agricultural plains ( terai ) of Nepal. Federal and local governments there have subsidized the pumps in an effort to expand irrigated agriculture using renewable energy. We use data from a cross-sectional survey of 656 farming households in the terai to examine how SIPs affect fossil fuel use and groundwater extraction. We find that most SIP users co…
The role of social identity in improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) and health services
Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
Governments in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are keen to expand irrigation to improve food security and are placing particular emphasis on adoption and use of smallholder private groundwater irrigation. Yet private irrigation is a multi-stage technology, the adoption of which is affected by fiscal support and extension services offered on different investment stages but also by uncertainties around actions that need to be undertaken in th…
Electric Pumps, Groundwater, Agriculture and Water Buyers
Irrigation with electric pumps is cheaper than with diesel pumps in West Bengal where electricity and diesel are unsubsidised, and where pump owners typically irrigate their winter rice crop and often sell water to farmers who do not own pumps. Using purposefully selected primary data, we examine whether electric-pump owners have greater water access and rice production during the monsoon and winter seasons compared to diesel-pump owners and wate…
A green-gray path to global water security and sustainable infrastructure
Sustainable development demands reliable water resources, yet traditional water management has broadly failed to avoid environmental degradation and contain infrastructure costs. We explore the global-scale feasibility of combining natural capital with engineering-based (green-gray) approaches to meet water security threats over the 21st century. Threats to water resource systems are projected to rise throughout this period, together with a signi…
Chronic kidney disease and household behaviors in Sri Lanka
This paper examines whether there are systematic differences in the historical behaviors of households that are affected and unaffected by chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Sri Lanka pertaining to their water source choices, water treatment practices, and agrochemical use. This analysis is motivated by the Sri Lankan government's largest policy response to this epidemic - to encourage communities to switch from untreated well water to publicly prov…
Viewpoint
Understanding the complex relationship between water, agriculture and poverty (WAP) is essential for informed policy-making in light of increasing demand for scarce water resources and greater climatic variability. Yet, our understanding of the WAP nexus remains surprisingly undeveloped and dispersed across multiple disciplines due to conceptual (biophysical and economic) and measurement issues. We argue that water for agriculture will need to be…
Children’s Diets, Nutrition Knowledge, and Access to Markets
Chronic undernutrition in Ethiopia is widespread and many children consume highly monotonous diets. To improve feeding practices in Ethiopia, a strong focus in nutrition programming has been placed on improving the nutrition knowledge of caregivers. In this paper, we study the impact of improving nutrition knowledge within households and its complementarity with market access. To test whether the effect of nutrition knowledge on childrenâ€TMs die…
Economic Benefits of Rural Feeder Roads
We estimate households’ willingness-to-pay for rural feeder roads in Ethiopia. Using purposefully collected data, we compare the economic behaviour of households by remoteness to estimate the benefits of access to feeder roads. Although we cannot definitively assert a causal relationship, we cautiously estimate that gravel roads have internal rates of return of 12–35 per cent. These results suggest that rural feeder roads may have relatively high…
Market Access, Well-being, and Nutrition
Estimating utility-consistent poverty in Ethiopia, 2000–11
We adapt the standardized Poverty Line Estimation Analytical Software (PLEASe) computer code stream based on Arndt and Simler’s (2010) utility-consistent approach to analyse poverty in Ethiopia in 2000, 2005, and 2011. Several data-related issues create challenges to estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of poverty in a manner that meets both consistency and specificity objectives. This paper documents how we adapt the code stream to a…
Utility-consistent poverty in Ethiopia, 2000–11
We use Arndt and Simler’s utility-consistent approach to calculating poverty lines to analyse poverty in Ethiopia in 2000, 2005, and 2011. Poverty reduction was steady but uneven, with gains greatest in urban areas in the first half of the decade, and in rural areas in the latter half. Other monetary and non-monetary measures of well-being confirm the general pattern of persistent improvements, though the large declines in poverty are not entirel…
Utility-consistent poverty in Madagascar, 2001-10
We use Arndt and Simler’s (2010) utility-consistent approach to calculating poverty lines to analyse poverty in Madagascar in 2001, 2005 and 2010. Because two major political crises occurred between the survey periods, the snapshots of national poverty rising from 56.3 per cent in 2001 to 59.6 per cent in 2005, and to 61.4 per cent in 2010, are not necessarily indicative of a trend of persistently rising poverty. Complementary data indicate that …
Structural Transformation of Cereal Markets in Ethiopia
We study cereal markets in Ethiopia over the last decade, a period that has been characterised by important local changes, including strong economic growth, urbanisation, improved road and communication infrastructure, and higher adoption of modern inputs in agriculture. These changes are associated with better spatial price integration as well as with significant declines in real price differences between supplying and receiving markets and in c…
Small Area Estimation-Based Prediction Methods to Track Poverty
Tracking poverty is predicated on the availability of comparable consumption data and reliable price deflators. However, regular series of strictly comparable data are only rarely available. Price deflators are also often missing or disputed. In response, poverty prediction methods that track consumption correlates as opposed to consumption itself have been developed. These methods typically assume that the estimated relation between consumption …
Taboos, Agriculture and Poverty
We study the impact of work taboos (fady days) on agriculture and poverty. Using cross-sectional data from a national household survey for Madagascar, we find that 18 per cent of agricultural households have two or more fady days per week and that an extra fady day is associated with 6 per cent lower per capita consumption and 5 per cent lower rice productivity. To address the possible endogeneity of fady days, we present instrumental variable es…
Small area estimation-based prediction methods to track poverty
Childhood overweight in the United States
Tracking Poverty Over Time In The Absence Of Comparable Consumption Data
Following the endorsement of the Millennium Development Goals, there is an increasing demand for methods to track poverty regularly. This paper develops an economically intuitive and inexpensive methodology to do so in the absence of regular, comparable data on household consumption. The minimum data requirements for the methodology are the availability of a household budget survey and a series of surveys with a comparable set of asset data also …
Targeting at the Margin
This article evaluates the Vaso de Leche (VL) feeding programme in Peru in order to illustrate an evaluation methodology based on targeting criteria for a decentralised transfer programme. We find that the degree of overall targeting of poor individuals attributable to the central government's choice of districts is greater than that attributable to choice of participants within districts made by the municipalities and the mothers' committees. Ho…
Exploring Alternative Measures of Welfare in the Absence of Expenditure Data
We consider an asset‐based alternative to the standard use of expenditures in defining well‐being and poverty. Our motivation is to see if there exist simpler and less demanding ways to collect data to measure economic welfare and rank households. This is particularly important in poor regions where there is limited capacity to collect consumption, expenditure and price data. We evaluate an index derived from a factor analysis on household assets…
Parental Preferences for Nutrition of Boys and Girls
This article models the determinants of pre-school age malnutrition in Africa using the Demographic Health Surveys. By examining the differences in the impact of mother's and father's education on the nutrition of boys and girls, we draw inferences from our reduced-form equations regarding the existence of non-unified preferences. In a bargaining framework, women with more schooling are able to earn more, which improves their fallback position. T…
Progress Toward the Millennium Development Goals in Africa
Poverty Comparisons Over Time and Across Countries in Africa
Poverty Comparisons Over Time and Across Countries in Africa
Children’s Diets, Nutrition Knowledge, and Access to Markets
Chronic undernutrition in Ethiopia is widespread and many children consume highly monotonous diets. To improve feeding practices in Ethiopia, a strong focus in nutrition programming has been placed on improving the nutrition knowledge of caregivers. In this paper, we study the impact of improving nutrition knowledge within households and its complementarity with market access. To test whether the effect of nutrition knowledge on childrenâ€TMs die…
Market Access, Well-being, and Nutrition
Progress Toward the Millennium Development Goals in Africa
Small area estimation-based prediction methods to track poverty
Viewpoint
Understanding the complex relationship between water, agriculture and poverty (WAP) is essential for informed policy-making in light of increasing demand for scarce water resources and greater climatic variability. Yet, our understanding of the WAP nexus remains surprisingly undeveloped and dispersed across multiple disciplines due to conceptual (biophysical and economic) and measurement issues. We argue that water for agriculture will need to be…
A green-gray path to global water security and sustainable infrastructure
Sustainable development demands reliable water resources, yet traditional water management has broadly failed to avoid environmental degradation and contain infrastructure costs. We explore the global-scale feasibility of combining natural capital with engineering-based (green-gray) approaches to meet water security threats over the 21st century. Threats to water resource systems are projected to rise throughout this period, together with a signi…
Poverty Comparisons Over Time and Across Countries in Africa
Parental Preferences for Nutrition of Boys and Girls
This article models the determinants of pre-school age malnutrition in Africa using the Demographic Health Surveys. By examining the differences in the impact of mother's and father's education on the nutrition of boys and girls, we draw inferences from our reduced-form equations regarding the existence of non-unified preferences. In a bargaining framework, women with more schooling are able to earn more, which improves their fallback position. T…
Progress Toward the Millennium Development Goals in Africa
Exploring Alternative Measures of Welfare in the Absence of Expenditure Data
We consider an asset‐based alternative to the standard use of expenditures in defining well‐being and poverty. Our motivation is to see if there exist simpler and less demanding ways to collect data to measure economic welfare and rank households. This is particularly important in poor regions where there is limited capacity to collect consumption, expenditure and price data. We evaluate an index derived from a factor analysis on household assets…
Targeting at the Margin
This article evaluates the Vaso de Leche (VL) feeding programme in Peru in order to illustrate an evaluation methodology based on targeting criteria for a decentralised transfer programme. We find that the degree of overall targeting of poor individuals attributable to the central government's choice of districts is greater than that attributable to choice of participants within districts made by the municipalities and the mothers' committees. Ho…
Tracking Poverty Over Time In The Absence Of Comparable Consumption Data
Following the endorsement of the Millennium Development Goals, there is an increasing demand for methods to track poverty regularly. This paper develops an economically intuitive and inexpensive methodology to do so in the absence of regular, comparable data on household consumption. The minimum data requirements for the methodology are the availability of a household budget survey and a series of surveys with a comparable set of asset data also …
Childhood overweight in the United States
Small Area Estimation-Based Prediction Methods to Track Poverty
Tracking poverty is predicated on the availability of comparable consumption data and reliable price deflators. However, regular series of strictly comparable data are only rarely available. Price deflators are also often missing or disputed. In response, poverty prediction methods that track consumption correlates as opposed to consumption itself have been developed. These methods typically assume that the estimated relation between consumption …
Taboos, Agriculture and Poverty
We study the impact of work taboos (fady days) on agriculture and poverty. Using cross-sectional data from a national household survey for Madagascar, we find that 18 per cent of agricultural households have two or more fady days per week and that an extra fady day is associated with 6 per cent lower per capita consumption and 5 per cent lower rice productivity. To address the possible endogeneity of fady days, we present instrumental variable es…
Small area estimation-based prediction methods to track poverty
Utility-consistent poverty in Ethiopia, 2000–11
We use Arndt and Simler’s utility-consistent approach to calculating poverty lines to analyse poverty in Ethiopia in 2000, 2005, and 2011. Poverty reduction was steady but uneven, with gains greatest in urban areas in the first half of the decade, and in rural areas in the latter half. Other monetary and non-monetary measures of well-being confirm the general pattern of persistent improvements, though the large declines in poverty are not entirel…
Utility-consistent poverty in Madagascar, 2001-10
We use Arndt and Simler’s (2010) utility-consistent approach to calculating poverty lines to analyse poverty in Madagascar in 2001, 2005 and 2010. Because two major political crises occurred between the survey periods, the snapshots of national poverty rising from 56.3 per cent in 2001 to 59.6 per cent in 2005, and to 61.4 per cent in 2010, are not necessarily indicative of a trend of persistently rising poverty. Complementary data indicate that …
Structural Transformation of Cereal Markets in Ethiopia
We study cereal markets in Ethiopia over the last decade, a period that has been characterised by important local changes, including strong economic growth, urbanisation, improved road and communication infrastructure, and higher adoption of modern inputs in agriculture. These changes are associated with better spatial price integration as well as with significant declines in real price differences between supplying and receiving markets and in c…
Estimating utility-consistent poverty in Ethiopia, 2000–11
We adapt the standardized Poverty Line Estimation Analytical Software (PLEASe) computer code stream based on Arndt and Simler’s (2010) utility-consistent approach to analyse poverty in Ethiopia in 2000, 2005, and 2011. Several data-related issues create challenges to estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of poverty in a manner that meets both consistency and specificity objectives. This paper documents how we adapt the code stream to a…
Economic Benefits of Rural Feeder Roads
We estimate households’ willingness-to-pay for rural feeder roads in Ethiopia. Using purposefully collected data, we compare the economic behaviour of households by remoteness to estimate the benefits of access to feeder roads. Although we cannot definitively assert a causal relationship, we cautiously estimate that gravel roads have internal rates of return of 12–35 per cent. These results suggest that rural feeder roads may have relatively high…
Market Access, Well-being, and Nutrition
Children’s Diets, Nutrition Knowledge, and Access to Markets
Chronic undernutrition in Ethiopia is widespread and many children consume highly monotonous diets. To improve feeding practices in Ethiopia, a strong focus in nutrition programming has been placed on improving the nutrition knowledge of caregivers. In this paper, we study the impact of improving nutrition knowledge within households and its complementarity with market access. To test whether the effect of nutrition knowledge on childrenâ€TMs die…
Chronic kidney disease and household behaviors in Sri Lanka
This paper examines whether there are systematic differences in the historical behaviors of households that are affected and unaffected by chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Sri Lanka pertaining to their water source choices, water treatment practices, and agrochemical use. This analysis is motivated by the Sri Lankan government's largest policy response to this epidemic - to encourage communities to switch from untreated well water to publicly prov…
Viewpoint
Understanding the complex relationship between water, agriculture and poverty (WAP) is essential for informed policy-making in light of increasing demand for scarce water resources and greater climatic variability. Yet, our understanding of the WAP nexus remains surprisingly undeveloped and dispersed across multiple disciplines due to conceptual (biophysical and economic) and measurement issues. We argue that water for agriculture will need to be…
Electric Pumps, Groundwater, Agriculture and Water Buyers
Irrigation with electric pumps is cheaper than with diesel pumps in West Bengal where electricity and diesel are unsubsidised, and where pump owners typically irrigate their winter rice crop and often sell water to farmers who do not own pumps. Using purposefully selected primary data, we examine whether electric-pump owners have greater water access and rice production during the monsoon and winter seasons compared to diesel-pump owners and wate…
A green-gray path to global water security and sustainable infrastructure
Sustainable development demands reliable water resources, yet traditional water management has broadly failed to avoid environmental degradation and contain infrastructure costs. We explore the global-scale feasibility of combining natural capital with engineering-based (green-gray) approaches to meet water security threats over the 21st century. Threats to water resource systems are projected to rise throughout this period, together with a signi…
The role of social identity in improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) and health services
Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia
Governments in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are keen to expand irrigation to improve food security and are placing particular emphasis on adoption and use of smallholder private groundwater irrigation. Yet private irrigation is a multi-stage technology, the adoption of which is affected by fiscal support and extension services offered on different investment stages but also by uncertainties around actions that need to be undertaken in th…
Solar-powered irrigation in Nepal
In recent years, use of solar-powered irrigation pumps (SIPs) has increased significantly in the agricultural plains ( terai ) of Nepal. Federal and local governments there have subsidized the pumps in an effort to expand irrigated agriculture using renewable energy. We use data from a cross-sectional survey of 656 farming households in the terai to examine how SIPs affect fossil fuel use and groundwater extraction. We find that most SIP users co…
Economics (22 works) · Economic growth (16 works) · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare (15 works) · Geography (13 works) · Income, Poverty, and Inequality (12 works) · Poverty (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Agriculture (9 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (9 works) · Agricultural risk and resilience (7 works)