This week Dustin speaks with Dr. Soumya Balasubramanya, senior economist at the World Bank based with its global environmental practice. Soumya is trained as a development economist and works on applied research projects at the intersection of environment, poverty and development across Asia and Africa. Before joining the Bank in 2022, Dr. Balasubramanya spent 10 years at the International Water Management Institute, a part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, rising to group leader in economics. Her work has demonstrated extraordinary range and rigour, in her own words focused on “advancing knowledge on understanding the fractal vulnerabilities faced by the poor”. We discuss this sweep of work in three major parts. We start with the spark for becoming a development economist and what it means to think like an economist in terms of evidence and connections to other fields. We continue by exploring why we know so little about key topics in water, agriculture and development. We discuss why it is important to learn from failure, taking a deep dive into India’s groundwater management and the uneven success of policy experiments with energy pricing reforms and solar irrigation. We conclude by discussing the insights for early career researchers seeking to work in development research and what it is like to work at large development organizations in this path.
Soumya's website: https://soumyabalasubramanya.com/
Further reading:
Balasubramanya, S., Buisson, M-C. 2022. Positive incentives for managing groundwater in the presence of informal water markets: perspectives from India. Environmental Research Letters, 17, 101001.
Balasubramanya, S., Brozovic, N., Fishman, R., Lele, S., Wang, Z. 2022. Managing irrigation under increasing water scarcity. Agricultural Economics, 53, 976-984.
Buisson, M-C., Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D. 2021. Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal. Journal of Development Studies, 57, 1893-1911.
Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D. 2020. Water, agriculture and poverty in an era of climate change: why do we know so little? Food Policy, 93.
021: Linking Stoicism and sustainability with Kai Whiting
Insight #3: Elena Finkbeiner on reflexivity and games
Insight #2: David Abson on ecosystem services
020: Academic culture and California's water governance with Courtney Hammond Wagner
Insight #1: Larry Crowder on interdisciplinarity
019: Stream ecology, applied service, and directing SESYNC with Margaret Palmer
018: Multi-disciplinary research on the Galápagos Islands with María José Barragán
017: Valuing the community level and changing sustainability narratives with Harini Nagendra
016: Resilience and indicators at the World Bank with Nate Engle
015: Forest policy and governance with J.T. Erbaugh
014: aKIDemic Life, resources empowering parents to navigate life and academia with Kirsty Nash
013: Research ethics, how to read articles, time management and environmental governance with Jeremy Pittman
012: Ecology, marine conservation and interdisciplinarity with Larry Crowder
011: Forest governance, the IFRI program and learning from Lin Ostrom with Krister Andersson
010: Moving from academia to Conservation International, and a human-rights based approach to fisheries governance with Elena Finkbeiner
009: Games and experiments with Juan Camilo Cárdenas
008: A history of the oceans and the importance of taking a historical research perspective with Helen Rozwadowski
007: Evidence synthesis and systematic literature review methodologies with Neal Haddaway
006: Sustainable tourism, hotel certifications and balancing academic tasks with Sonya Graci
005: Ecosystem services, justice, leverage points and land-sparing vs. land-sharing with David Abson
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Poetry of Science
Behavioral Grooves Podcast
Hidden Brain
Something You Should Know
EverydaySpy Podcast