The Role of Irrigation in the Development of Agriculture in the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5752805 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eric C Edwards (0000-0002-0433-0635, North Carolina State University, corresponding author), Steven M Smith (0000-0002-9653-2663, Colorado School of Mines, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1103-1141 |
| Publication date | 2018-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0507 • E-ISSN: 1471-6372 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0022050718000608 |
| OpenAlex | W2900688107 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 22 |
We examine the role of irrigation in explaining U.S. agricultural gains post-1940. Specifically, we analyze how productivity and farm values changed in the western United States as a result of technological and policy changes that expanded access to ground and surface water. To statistically identify the effects, we compare counties based on their potential access to irrigation water defined by physical characteristics. We find areas with access to large streams and/or groundwater increase crop production relative to areas with only small streams by $19 billion annually, equivalent to 90 percent of the total annual increase in the western United States after 1940
Agricultural economics · Agricultural productivity · Agriculture · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Groundwater · Hydrology (agriculture) · Irrigation · Production (economics) · Productivity · STREAMS · Water resource management · Environmental Science · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Geology · Land Rights and Reforms · Water resources management and optimization
Dynamics of the Legal Environment and the Development of Communal Irrigation Systems
Are matching funds for smallholder irrigation money well spent
Water storage and agricultural resilience to drought
Adapting crop production to water scarcity
Income inequality effect of public utility infrastructure
Conserving groundwater
The development of American agriculture
Streams, Gaining and Losing
The Evolution of Property Rights
Dams
Cadillac Desert
Can Public Investment Have a Positive Rate of Return
Economic Problems in Agriculture by Irrigation
Government Construction of Irrigation Works
Groundwater
The Beginnings of Irrigation in the United States
The Impact of Technological Change on American Agriculture, 1862–1962
American Agriculture in the Twentieth Century
Flip the Switch
Irrigation in the United States
Regulation and the Revolution in United States Farm Productivity
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |