From farm towns to supercities
Our work is designed to inform difficult decisions facing communities around the world that are navigating the challenges of sustainable development in the 21st century. We contribute to evidence-based solutions in a diverse set of communities around the world, from rural subsistence communities in low income countries to rapidly growing megacities, to communities throughout Illinois.
Sustainable Communities Mini-talks
Small Farmers and Global Value Chains - Sustaining Development? Presented by Hope Michelson (2020)
Are consumers willing to pay for both local brewing and local hops? Presented by Shadi Atallah (2020)
Collaboration | Resilient Urban-Rural Analysis for Livability
CEOS faculty and students: Amy Ando, Kaylee Wells
Funding: Illinois Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)
Focus Area: Sustainable Communities
This project seeks to answer a critical question facing the American Midwest: “Can sustainability be rural?” As populations migrate from populous cities to small communities, it is critical to ensure that these “urban-rural” communities maintain resilience and livability for all residents. However, increasingly severe weather (e.g., the devastating and costly 2020 derecho event) and racialized social inequities create barriers against inclusive, sustainable development.
Using a system of midsized communities like Champaign-Urbana, Peoria, and Aurora as a testbed, the research team will investigate the many interlocking systems that comprise the urban-rural network, with a specific focus on the following subsystems: food (security and agricultural land management); water (infrastructure and flood/drought mitigation); energy (generation and use); and people (movement between cities, “white flight,” and segregation). More
Research Output
| Title | Publication | Authors | Year Published | Category | Method | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's empowerment: evidence from rural Western Paraná (Brazil) | Mary Arends-Kuenning, Roberta Vedana, Marcos de Oliveira Garcias, Pery Shikida | 2023 | FA, SC | N/A | (WP) Working Paper | |
| A review of livestock development interventions’ impacts on household welfare in low-and middle-income countries | Global Food Security | Sarah Janzen, Anissa Collishaw, Conner Mullally, Hannah Camilli | 2023 | FA, SC | N/A | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| Coping with COVID‐19 shocks in rural Nepal | Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy | Sarah Janzen, Kierstin Ekstrom, Nicholas Magnan | 2023 | SC | N/A | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| Digital trust substitution technologies to support smallholder livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa | Global Food Security | Lee, N.M., Varshney, L.R., Michelson, H.C., Goldsmith, P., & Davis, A. | 2022 | FA, SC | (OM) Other | |
| Anti-poverty programmes build resilience | Nature Climate Change | 2022 | SC | N/A | (PR) Peer Reviewed | |
| O Cooperativismo na dinâmica econômica e social da agropecuária brasileira | Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada | Mary Arends-Kuenning, Roberta Vedana, Marcos de Oliveira Garcias, Pery Francisco Assis Shikida | 2022 | FA, SC | N/A | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| Empoderamento feminino na agricultura: um estudo na Lar Cooperativa Agroindustrial (Paraná) | Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural | Mary Arends-Kuenning, Roberta Vedana, Pery Francisco Assis Shikida, Marcos de Oliveira Garcias | 2022 | FA, SC | N/A | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| Is tech-enhanced bikeshare a substitute or complement for public transit? | Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice | Martin, R., & Xu, Y. | 2022 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| Demand for Weather Index Insurance among Smallholder Farmers under Prospect Theory | Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization | Sarah Janzen, Soye Shin, Nicholas Magnan, Conner Mullally | 2022 | SC | N/A | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| Can mobile technology improve female entrepreneurship? evidence from Nepal | Sarah Janzen, Conner Mullally, Nicholas Magnan, Shruti Sharma, Bhola Shrestha | 2022 | SC | N/A | (WP) Working Paper | |
| Private contributions for public information: soil testing in Malawi | SSRN | Berazneva, J., Maertens, A., Mhango, W., & Michelson, H. | 2022 | LW, SC | (FE) Field Experiment | (WP) Working Paper |
| The joint effects of information and financing constraints on technology adoption: Evidence from a field experiment in rural Tanzania | Journal of Development Economics | Harou, A.P., Madajewicz, M., Michelson, H., Palm, C.A., Amuri, N., Magomba, C., Semoka, J.M., Tschirhart, K., & Weil, R. | 2022 | FA, SC | (FE) Field Experiment | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| Public good provision and democracy: Evidence from an experiment with farmer groups in Malawi | World Development | Nourania, V., Maertens, A., & Michelson, H. | 2021 | FA, SC | (PD) Policy Design, (FE) Field Experiment | |
| Racial, ethnic, and urban/rural differences in transitions into diabetes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Survey biomarker and self-reported data | Journal of Rural Social Sciences | Chung, H. & and Arends-Kuenning, M. Journal of Rural Social Sciences, accepted. (OM, SC) | 2021 | SC | (OM) Other | (WP) Working Paper |
| Examining nutrition and food waste trade-offs using an obesity prevention context | Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior | Ellison, B., & Pflugh Prescott, M. | 2021 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| What happens when Airbnb comes to the neighborhood: The impact of home-sharing on neighborhood investment | Regional Science and Urban Economics | Xu, M., & Xu, Y. | 2021 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| Community pressure and the spatial redistribution of pollution: The relocation of toxic releasing facilities | Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists | Wang, X., Deltas, G., Khanna, M., & Bi, X. | 2021 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Incentives for corporate social responsibility in India: Mandate, peer pressure and crowding-out effects | Journal of Environmental Economics and Management | Bansal, S., Khanna, M., Sydlowski, J. | 2021 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Distribution of pollution incidence based on community characteristics: evidence from relocating toxic-releasing facilities | SSRN | Wang, X., Deltas, G., Khanna, M., & Bi, X. | 2021 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | (WP) Working Paper |
| Sustainability standards in global agrifood supply chains | Nature Food | Meemken, E.M., Barrett, C.B., Michelson, H.C., Qaim, M., Reardon, T., Sellare, J. | 2021 | FA, SC | (OM) Other | (PR) Peer Reviewed |
| How do farmers learn from extension services? Evidence from Malawi | American Journal of Agricultural Economics | Maertens, A., Michelson, H., & Nourani, V. | 2021 | FA, LW, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation, (PD) Policy Design | |
| The demand for mobility: Evidence from an experiment with Uber riders | IZA Discussion Paper | Christensen, P., & Osman, A. | 2021 | EE, SC | (FE) Field Experiment | |
| Reducing the cost of remoteness: Community-based health interventions and fertility choices | Journal of Health Economics | Herrera-Almanza, C., & Rosales, M. | 2020 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Can insurance alter poverty dynamics and reduce the cost of social protection in developing countries? | Journal of Risk and Insurance | Janzen, S. A., Carter, M. R., & Ikegami, M. | 2020 | SC | (SM) System Modeling | |
| Mitigation of long-term human capital losses from natural disasters: Evidence from the Philippines | The World Bank Economic Review | Herrera-Almanza, C., & Cas, A. | 2020 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Can experiential games and improved risk coverage raise demand for index insurance? Evidence from Kenya | American Journal of Agricultural Economics | Janzen, S. A., Magnan, N., Mullally, C., Shin, S., Palmer, I., Oduol, J., & Hughes, K. | 2020 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Assessing the downstream socioeconomic impacts of agroforestry in Kenya | World Development | Hughes, K., Morgan, S., Baylis, K., Oduol, J., Smith-Dumont, E., Vågen, T. G., & Kegode, H. |
2020 | FA, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Consequences of protected areas for forest extraction and human well-being: Evidence from Nepal | Environmental and Resource Economics | Howlader, A., & Ando, A. W. | 2020 | LW, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Do foreign-educated nurses displace native-educated nurses? | IZA Journal of Labor Policy | H. Chung, H. & Arends-Kuenning, M. | 2020 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| A systematic review of school meal nudge interventions to improve youth food behaviors | International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity | Metcalfe, J.J., Ellison, B., Hamdi, N., Richardson, R., & Prescott, M. (2020) "A systematic review of school meal nudge interventions to improve youth food behaviors." International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity(17) | 2020 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| Análise dos determinantes da felicidade dos associados da Lar Cooperativa Agroindustrial | Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural | Vedana, R., Garcias, M., Shikida, P., & Arends-Kuenning, M. | 2020 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| Foreclosed American Dream? Parental foreclosure and young adult children’s homeownership | Journal of Family and Economic Issues | Xu, Y. | 2020 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| Willingness-to-volunteer and stability of preferences between cities: Estimating the benefits of stormwater management | Journal of Environmental Economics and Management | Cadavid, C.L., Ando, A.W., Netusil, N., & Parthum, B. |
2020 | LW, SC | (VA) Valuation | |
| Should congested cities reduce their speed limits? Evidence from São Paulo, Brazil | Journal of Public Economics | Ang, A., Christensen, P., & Schwambach-Vieira, R. | 2020 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Growing green business investments in Asia and the Pacific: Trends and opportunities | Asian Development Bank | Khanna, M. | 2020 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| Decomposing the wedge between projected and realized savings in energy efficiency programs | E2e Working Paper | Christensen, P., Francisco, P., Myers, E., & Souza, M. | 2020 | EE, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Assessing preferences for growth on the rural-urban fringe using a stated choice analysis | Landscape and Urban Economics | Stamberger, L., Van Riper, C., Stewart, W., Ando, A. W., Gobster, P., & Hunt, L. | 2020 | SC | (VA) Valuation | |
| Assessing the role of stakeholder platforms as drivers of resilient communities: the case of Malawi | Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension | Álvarez-Mingote, C., Moore, A.C., & McNamara, P.E. | 2020 | FA, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation, (PD) Policy Design | |
| Decomposing the wedge between projected and realized savings in energy efficiency programs | E2e Working Paper | Christensen, P., Francisco, P., Myers, E., & Souza, M. (2020). | 2020 | EE, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Does irrigation reduce the impact of climate shocks on conflict? Evidence from Indonesia | American Journal of Agricultural Economics | Gatti, N.,† K. Baylis and B. Crost | 2020 | SC | N/A | |
| Housing discrimination and the toxics exposure gap in the United States: Evidence from the rental market | Review of Economics and Statistics | Christensen, P., Sarmiento-Barbieri, I., & Timmins, C. | 2020 | EE, SC | (OM) Other | |
| Assessing the downstream socioeconomic impacts of agroforestry in Kenya | Development | Hughes, K., S. Morgan,† K. Baylis, J. Odoul, E. Smith-Dumont, T.G. Vagen and H. Kegode | 2020 | SC | N/A | |
| The practice of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) in the Tropical Andes: Evidence from program administrators | Ecosystem Services | Bauchet, J., Asquith, N., Ma, Z., Raudel, C., Godoy, R., Zanotti, L., Steele, D., Gramig, B. M., Chong, A. E. | 2020 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| Unlocking amenities: Complementarity in public good consumption | Journal of Public Economics | Albouy, D., Christensen, P., & Sarmiento, I. |
2020 | SC, O | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| After the drought: The impact of microinsurance on consumption smoothing and asset protection | American Journal of Agricultural Economics | Janzen, S. A., & Carter, M. R. | 2019 | FA, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Bridging versus bonding social capital and the management of the firewood commons | Land Economics | Baylis, K, Gong, Y., & Wang, S. |
2019 | SC, O | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| The effect of NAFTA on internal migration in Mexico: A regional economic analysis | Applied Economics | Arends-Kuenning, M., K. Baylis, K., & Garduno-Rafael, R. | 2019 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Poverty traps and the social protection paradox | The Economics of Poverty Traps (book) | Ikegami, M., Carter, M. R., & Barrett, C. B. | 2019 | SC | (SM) System Modeling | |
| Sorting or steering: Experimental evidence on the economic effects of housing discrimination | NBER Working Paper | Christensen, P., & Timmins, C. |
2019 | SC, O | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Economic effects of environmental crises: Evidence from Flint, Michigan | Working Paper | Christensen, P., Keiser, D., & Lade, G. |
2019 | SC, O | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Modeling uncertainty in climate change: A multi-model comparison | Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics | Gillingham, K., Nordhaus, W., Blanford, G., Bosetti, V., Christensen, P., McJeon, H., Reilly, J., and Sztorc, P. | 2018 | SC | N/A | |
| Geographic determinants of China's urbanization | Regional Science and Urban Economics | Christensen, P., & McCord, G.C. |
2018 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Valuing the benefits of green stormwater infrastructure | Oxford Encyclopedia of Water Resources Management and Policy | Ando, A.W., & Netusil, N. | 2018 | LW, SC | (VA) Valuation | |
| Short-term impacts of a pay-it-forward livestock transfer and training program in rural Nepal | American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings | A., Magnan, N. P., Sharma, S, & Thompson, W. M. | 2018 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| The Millennium Villages project and local land values: Using hedonic pricing methods to evaluate development projects | World Development | Michelson, H., & Tully, K. | 2018 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation, (VA) Valuation | |
| Social protection in the face of climate change: Targeting principles and transfer mechanisms | Environment and Development Economics | Carter, M. R. | 2018 | SC | (SM) System Modeling | |
| Can insurance help manage climate risk and food insecurity? Evidence from the pastoral regions of East Africa | Climate Smart Agriculture - Building Resilience to Climate Change | Carter, M. R., A., & Stoeffler, Q. | 2018 | SC | (SM) System Modeling | |
| Asymmetric information is residential rental markets: Implications for the energy efficiency gap | E2e Working Paper | Myers, E. | 2018 | EE, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Mandatory savings, credit access and home ownership: The case of the housing provident fund | Urban Studies | Xu, Y. | 2017 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| Genetic and environmental influences on household financial distress | Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization | Xu, Y., Briley, D. A., Brown, J. R., & Roberts, B. W. (2017). Genetic and environmental influences on household financial distress. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization,142, 404-424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.08.001 | 2017 | SC | (OM) Other | |
| The importance of animal source foods for nutrient sufficiency in the developing world: The Zambia scenario | Food and Nutrition Bulletin | Zhang, Z., Goldsmith, P. D., & Winter-Nelson, A. | 2016 | SC | (PD) Policy Design, (SM) System Modeling | |
| Renewable energy policies for eco-innovation | Managing Emerging Technologies for Socio-Economic Impact | Dombrovski, R. (eds) Assimakopoulos, D., Oshri, I., & Pandza, K. | 2015 | EE, SC | (PD) Policy Design | |
| The economics of post-harvest loss: A case study of the new large soybean-maize producers in tropical Brazil | Food Security | Goldsmith, P.D., Martins, A.G., & Moura, A.D. | 2015 | SC | (SM) System Modeling | |
| Effectiveness of financial and fiscal instruments for promoting sustainable renewable energy technologies | Economic and Business Review | 2015 | EE, SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation, (PD) Policy Design | ||
| Milk in the data: food security impacts of livestock in Zambia | World Development | Jodlowski, M., Winter-Nelson, A. Baylis, K., & Goldsmith, P.D. | 2015 | SC | (IE) Impact Evaluation | |
| Personality and young adult financial distress | Journal of Economic Psychology | Xu, Y., Beller, A. H., Roberts, B. W., & Brown, J. R. |
2015 | SC | (OM) Other |