Browsing by Author "Jordan, Cristian"

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    Irrigation subsidy policy in Chile: lessons from the allocation, uneven distribution and water resources implications
    (2021) Jordan, Cristian; Donoso H., Guillermo; Speelman, Stijn
    Globally irrigation subsidies are utilized to boost modernization and increase irrigation efficiency. This paper examines the effects of the irrigation subsidy programme in Chile by reviewing 32 years of allocations and exploring the drivers and consequences of the subsidy programme with a clear market approach based on competition and a state risk-free strategy. Our analysis reveals that, despite the flexibility in targeting, the results indicate an uneven allocation to smallholders' detriment, a state inability to identify farmers' needs, market concentration and a bias towards agricultural expansion. As long as the programme remains unaltered, it will threaten agriculture and water resources' sustainability.
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    Measuring the effect of improved irrigation technologies on irrigated agriculture. A study case in Central Chile
    (2021) Jordan, Cristian; Donoso H., Guillermo; Speelman, Stijn
    Irrigated agriculture is the primary sector demanding water resources in the world. Given that, improved irrigation technologies could play a crucial role in enhancing water use efficiency. This paper uses causal inference estimators to evaluate the effect of these technologies on irrigators at the farm level in two irrigated valleys in Central Chile. Doubly robust estimators were employed to address the selection bias of the adoption of improved irrigation technologies. The results show first a low level of technology adoption, with only 18% of irrigators adopting irrigation, where access to credits and education plays a crucial role in their adoption. Despite this low rate, the estimates show consistently positive and significant impacts on adopters in terms of annual margins and land use. As a result, our research calls for attention towards focusing programs and policy targeting on reducing entry barriers and broadening the adoption of irrigation technologies, allowing to reduce the gap in terms of economic wellbeing and the long-term sustainability and adaptation to climate change of irrigated areas.
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    What is behind water user satisfaction with irrigation organizations performance? An empirical analysis under different water scarcity conditions
    (2024) Bopp, Carlos; Engler, Alejandra; Jordan, Cristian; Jara-Rojas, Roberto
    The level of satisfaction of individuals within a community sharing a common pool resource is essential to strengthening collective actions. In the case of irrigation water, which is becoming a critical resource due to its declining availability in many regions worldwide, the satisfaction level in Water User Associations (WUAs) is not guaranteed and also varies across individuals within these organizations. This study analyzed the satisfaction of users in WUAs and identified organization- and user-level characteristics associated with it. Using a sample of 393 users of 20 WUAs from the Mediterranean portion of Chile, we performed confirmatory factor analysis, correlational analyses, and multilevel regressions. A composite indicator of user satisfaction showed significant correlations with the positive evaluation of the WUA staff performance, the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement, and the confidence that other users do not withdraw more water than they are allocated. We also compared users' satisfaction levels from WUAs facing higher and lower water scarcity problems and found that user satisfaction is significantly higher in the latter case. The results of the multilevel econometric models show that in WUAs under higher water scarcity, user satisfaction is affected by several structural characteristics (water withdrawal mechanism and location along the canal) and users' human and social capital variables (experience, education, and participation in organizations); in contrast, in WUAs with a low level of scarcity, few covariates were significant while unobserved characteristics became more relevant (34 % of total variance explanation). Our study contributes to the existing literature on user satisfaction in community resource management, which could be useful to promote effective and cohesive governance structures as, ultimately, users determine cooperation rates and willingness to participate in WUA actions.