Unmesh Patnaik

Coping with Climatic Shocks: Empirical Evidence from Rural Coastal Odisha, India:

Households in India face numerous climatic shocks, including cyclones and floods, and these extreme events have a negative impact on their welfare. Although these impacts are likely to increase in the foreseeable future due to climate change, households are also taking up various coping measures to deal with the impacts from past shocks. Hence, assessing the impact of shocks and identifying the determinants of various coping options have relevant policy implications in the context of designing a disaster mitigation policy. This study examines the consumption behaviour and the determinants of traditional coping mechanisms adopted by the vulnerable households using household-level data collected from cyclone and flood prone districts of the state of Odisha in eastern India. The findings suggest that: (i) partial consumption smoothing is exhibited with respect to household-specific characteristics, (ii) increasing impacts on assets and health expenditure due to floods inhibit consumption patterns of households and (iii) the adopted traditional coping mechanisms are specific to location and household characteristics.

How effective are coping mechanisms in securing livelihoods against climatic aberrations? Evidences from rural India

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the consumption behaviour and effectiveness of coping mechanisms adopted by households living in disaster-prone regions of rural India to cope with climatic aberrations and extremes using household-level data. In developing countries like India, poor households living in rural regions face risks to their livelihood due to climatic aberrations like deficient monsoon spells and rainfall gaps. Although these risks are covariate, the impact depends on location and the relative capacity of the people to cope with them. Design/methodology/approach – Using household-level data, this paper attempts to examine the consumption behaviour and effectiveness of coping mechanisms adopted by households living in these areas to hedge against the risks. A tobit and a multivariate probit model is used in the process. Findings – Based on the empirical analysis, and subject to the assumptions and the usual limitations of data, the findings suggest that households resort to consumption smoo...

Foreign Direct Investment and Business Cycle Co-movement: Evidence from Asian Countries

Regardless of the stage of development of economy, foreign direct investment and trade are prominent channels of business cycle co-movements. In view of sustainability concerns, carbon emissions have been in focus for shaping international policy on trade and FDI. We analyze the linkages between FDI, trade and carbon emissions relative to the business cycle co-movements using a panel comprising of 25 pairs of Asian economies. Adopting econometric techniques such as the three-stage least squares and Bayesian inferences, the results indicate that both FDI and trade are important channels of international business cycle transmission. It emerges that correlation of manufacturing sector emission between countries is negatively related to business cycle co-movement and trade, but positively related to FDI. Therefore, FDI is horizontal and tends to complement trade. We conclude reduction in CO2 emissions from manufacturing sector acts as the stabilizing agent on the business cycle co-movement, while FDI induces pollution in these economies.

Development interventions, adaptation decisions and farmers’ well-being: evidence from drought-prone households in rural India

Evidence suggests that the developing countries are highly vulnerable to various climatic shocks now and in the foreseeable future, while they are already encountering various developmental issues such as poverty, food security, malnutrition and inequality. Over the years, several development interventions have been undertaken to address these issues. Although recent studies particularly emphasize the need to integrate climate change adaptation into development planning, empirical analysis of causal relationships is less explored, specifically in India. Consequently, this study firstly attempts to identify whether synergies exist between development activities and agricultural adaptation decision-making. Secondly, it assesses the impact of such decisions on farmers’ well-being. The empirical analysis is based on a survey of 549 rural households in drought-prone regions of western Odisha, India, where western Orissa rural livelihoods project was implemented in the last decade to improve the living standards. Using an ‘endogenous switching regression approach’, this study reveals two findings. Firstly, livelihood interventions enhance the likelihood of undertaking farm-level adaptation measures, and the other drivers are access to technical education, formal and informal institutions and agricultural extension services. Secondly, adaptations lead to significant gains in income from crops. The paper concludes with implications for policies to promote various rural livelihoods projects in rural India. From a broader policy perspective, it is imperative to integrate climate change in development planning to reduce the risk of maladaptation.