11 research outputs found

    Spatial analysis of energy use and GHG emissions from cereal production in India

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    Agriculture contributes 18% of India's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, little is known about the energy requirements of individual crops, making it difficult to link nutrition-enhancing dietary changes to energy consumption and climate change. We estimate the energy and CO2 intensity of food grains (rice, wheat, sorghum, maize, pearl millet and finger millet) taking into account their irrigation requirements, water source, dependence on groundwater, yields, fertilizer and machinery inputs. Rice is the most energy-intensive cereal, while millets are the least. Total energy use contributes 16% of GHG emissions for rice, due to its high methane emissions, and 56% for wheat. Fertilizer production and use dominates GHG emissions from all crops, contributing 52% of GHGs from cereals. Energy intensities vary by up to a factor of four across the country, due to varying water requirements, irrigation sources and groundwater table depths. The results suggest that replacing rice with other cereals has the potential to reduce energy consumption and GHGs, though the spatial variation of production shifts would influence the extent of this reduction and the possible trade-offs with total production

    Asymmetric crime dynamics in and out of lockdowns

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    This article studies the dynamic impact of a temporary policy restricting social encounters due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on criminal activity in Bihar, India. Using a regression discontinuity design in time and criminal case—level and arrest data, I document an immediate drop in crime of over 35% due to the lockdown. Analysis over a longer timespan shows asymmetric dynamics by crime type. The lockdown was more effective in preventing personal crimes such as murders but was less effective in preventing property crimes, which increased beyond pre-lockdown levels once the lockdown was lifted. The increase in property crimes seems to be driven by temporal crime displacement from “former offenders” and not by “new offenders.” These asymmetric dynamics across crime types provide new insights into criminals’ intertemporal decisions (JEL K14, K42)

    The heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on crime across the world

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    Abstract There is a vast literature evaluating the empirical association between stay-at-home policies and crime during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these academic efforts have primarily focused on the effects within specific cities or regions rather than adopting a cross-national comparative approach. Moreover, this body of literature not only generally lacks causal estimates but also has overlooked possible heterogeneities across different levels of stringency in mobility restrictions. This paper exploits the spatial and temporal variation of government responses to the pandemic in 45 cities across five continents to identify the causal impact of strict lockdown policies on the number of offenses reported to local police. We find that cities that implemented strict lockdowns experienced larger declines in some crime types (robbery, burglary, vehicle theft) but not others (assault, theft, homicide). This decline in crime rates attributed to more stringent policy responses represents only a small proportion of the effects documented in the literature
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