Economics of Environment and Energy Hour
Salting the Earth: Shrimp Farming and Agricultural Externalities in Bangladesh
Jack Thiemel (Department of Economics, LSE)
Thursday 02 April 2026 16:00 - 17:00
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About this event
Bangladesh is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the word. Even under optimistic assumptions for the path of climate change, scientists predict large decreases in crop yields and the potential for high rates of out-migration from rural areas. In the face of rising groundwater salinity, one adaptation method to the changing local climate is switching from agriculture to aquaculture, that is raising shrimp and fish which thrive in brackish water. We show that farmers believe shrimp farming causes local externalities, and lead to greater adoption of shrimp farming on nearby plots using satellite evidence from 80,000 plots and a 1,400 plot ground truth survey. We discuss next steps to show whether this method creates over/under adoption of the new technology.