Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 19/03/2026Notebooks for my new “Spatial Data Analysis” course: github.com/joelferg/spa... This class is being taught at the advanced undergrad level and focuses on using python tools for working with spatial data and conducting statistical analyses. Hopefully a useful intro for someone here! 010
Reposted by Joel FergusonCenter for Effective Global Action @cega-uc.bsky.social · 14/02/2026In honor of the late Betty Sadoulet, a conference is being held on the UC Berkeley campus. The conference invites submissions for papers by graduate students or early-career researchers on all topics in development economics. Submit a paper by March 15: go.cega.org/are-CFPgo.cega.orgAnnouncement and Call for Papers for UC Berkeley conference and JDE special issue in honor of Professor Elisabeth “Betty” Sadoulet | Agricultural & Resource Economics 021
Reposted by Joel FergusonVoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 12/12/2025Growth plays an extremely powerful role in determining conflict outcomes under climate change. Growth-promoting policies provide a large additional social benefit in the form of reduced future conflict incidence in Africa. 012
Reposted by Joel FergusonVoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 23/10/2025🆕 Why irrigation infrastructure projects are key to food security and climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa Abdoulaye Cisse, Alain de Janvry @natureatcal.bsky.social, @joelferguson.bsky.social, @marcogn.bsky.social, Samba Mbaye, Elisabeth Sadoulet & Mame Mor: voxdev.org/topic/agricu...voxdev.orgWhy irrigation infrastructure projects are key to food security and climate resilience in sub-Saharan AfricaExpanding irrigation infrastructure in Senegal led to significant and sustained increases in cultivation rates and reduced sensitivity to temperature shocks. 044
Reposted by Joel FergusonCaroline Krafft @ckrafftc.bsky.social · 16/10/2025Call for Papers: 23rd Midwest International Economic Development Conference. April 24-25, 2026. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Details: mwiedc.org Submit: editorialexpress.com/conference/m... #EconSkymwiedc.orgMidwest International Economic Development Conference 095
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 04/09/2025I really like that we combined remote sensing and primary data collection in an interesting way in this project: RS showed us an issue and where it occurs, and we surveyed those affected about the causes. I’m hoping to do more at that intersection going forward 010
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Next, we survey owners of land that hasn’t been cultivated in recent years to better understand what drives disuse. We find that, despite all of these lands being serviced by an irrigation project, farmers point to difficulty accessing water as one of the main drivers of disuse! 110
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 04/09/2025First, we use over 3000 Landsat images of the SRV from 1985-2019 to classify land as cultivated or not at the 30m pixel level. This lets us answer questions like “How much does project completion increase cultivation rate?” and “What share of projects cultivate less than 1/3 of their area?” 110
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 04/09/2025We explore how large-scale irrigation infrastructure, which has expanded in the Senegal River Valley (SRV) to service over 100k ha, has altered the amount of land cultivated and patterns around cultivation and disuse. We combine administrative data on irrigation projects with two data sources. 110
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 04/09/2025“Irrigation infrastructure and satellite-measured land cultivation impacts: Evidence from the Senegal river valley” is now live at the JDE! I’m really proud of the work that my coauthors - Abdou, Alain, @marcogn.bsky.social, Samba, Betty, and Mame Mor - and I put into this. doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...doi.orgRedirecting 121
Reposted by Joel FergusonBob Kopp @bobkopp.net · 18/06/2025New Nature paper (open access!) from the Climate Impact Lab, led by Andy Hultgren (UIUC).impactlab.orgClimate change cuts global crop yields, even when farmers adapt - Climate Impact LabA new study finds the global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt. 22814
Reposted by Joel FergusonMax(imilian) Auffhammer @auffhammer.bsky.social · 28/04/2025We are back! EEE Summer School @ Berkeley! 🔗 Info + application: www.auffhammer.com/summer-school 📅 Deadline: May 14 | Program: Aug 18–22 at Berkeley We especially encourage early stage Ph.D. students with possible interest in EEE topics! Must be enrolled in North American Econ"ish" Ph.D. program.auffhammer.comsummer school — Maximilian Auffhammer 0166
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 24/03/2025I’m super excited to share that this fall I’ll join the faculty of University of Wisconsin in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies! Special thanks to @marcogn.bsky.social @tedmiguel.bsky.social and Sol Hsiang for all their support throughout my PhD/postdoc and the job search 2141
Reposted by Joel FergusonAndreas Schmittner @andreasschmittner.bsky.social · 14/03/2025🚨Job Alert Earth System Modelers wanted at Oregon State University Hiring multiple tenure-track/tenured faculty in Computational Earth System Science, at Assistant, Associate and/or Full Professor ranks. Deadline 15th April jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/165...jobs.oregonstate.eduAssistant/Associate/Full Professor: Computational Earth System ScienceThe College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences invites applications for multiple part-time (.75 FTE), 12-month, tenure-track/tenured Assistant, Associate or Full Professor positions (depending o... 02722
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025The last time I visited my grandparents my grandpa came in and wrote something on the calendar. Turns out he’s been measuring precipitation there since 1991! Here are his measurements against PRISM 0140
Reposted by Joel FergusonClimateFran @climatefran.bsky.social · 16/12/2024Applications open for the The Workshop in Environmental Economics and Data Science! This is a fantastic and fun small workshop and this year featuring the great Jen Burney as keynote. Applications due Jan 15th tweeds.iotweeds.ioTWEEDS | The workshop in environmental economics and data science 01711
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 13/12/2024What can policymakers do to help reduce the horribly costly impacts of climate change on conflict? We draw on our recent NBER WP to highlight 3 areas: strengthening the social safety net, reducing the sensitivity of income to weather shocks, and political inclusion. 082
Reposted by Joel FergusonDavid Ubilava @davidubilava.bsky.social · 21/11/2024Created this starter pack of scholars who have worked on economic causes and consequences of conflict. The list is inevitably non-exhaustive, so please let me know if you would like to be added to it (or know of someone who should be on the list). go.bsky.app/PTSxCQf 122
Reposted by Joel FergusonFlorencia Torche @ftorche.bsky.social · 13/11/2024Important PNAS article on the impact of climate change on migration by Garip et al. Undocumented migration MX->US increases when communities experience droughts. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...pnas.orgWeather deviations linked to undocumented migration and return between Mexico and the United States | PNASAs the world’s climate continues to change, human populations are exposed to increasingly severe and extreme weather conditions that can promote mi... 15322
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 22/10/2024www.nber.org/papers/w24645 Light on math (I don’t think there’s any), heavy on economic intuition, covers a lot of groundnber.orgThe Critical Role of Markets in Climate Change AdaptationFounded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an... 030
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 14/10/2024I’ve been saying Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson for so long my friend assumed they were my pick for this year 000
Reposted by Joel FergusonAERE @aereorg.bsky.social · 08/10/2024📣 AERE@OSWEET returns *this Friday* 10/11 at 2pm Eastern (11am Pacific) with 3 terrific talks on agriculture! Presenters: ✨ Joel Ferguson (Stanford, @joelferguson.bsky.social ) ✨ Na Zhang (UIUC) ✨ Micah Cameron Harp (Kansas State) Register & learn more: cornell.zoom.us/meeting/regi... 📈📉 #EconSky 012
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 24/09/2024What makes for a “good” question from the audience in a research talk? Or (probably easier to answer) what makes for a “bad” question? 000
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 22/09/2024Say T=3 and D in {0,lo,hi}. My idea is in new DiD stuff with D in {0,1} everything is estimated based on cohorts - eg Di=(0,1,1), Dj=(0,0,1) - then averaging somehow In this setting there’s a natural analogue of trajectories, eg Di=(0,lo,lo), Dj=(0,lo,hi). Seems like a similar logic could apply 000
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 22/09/2024Thanks for pointing me to that paper, definitely interesting! I don’t think it captures what I was thinking though. I also thought about it more and I think you would need to restrict HTEs within cohorts to make what I said in my 2nd response true 110
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 22/09/2024Oops, just realized that’s just the link to the search, but I think it should be the first result there 100
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 22/09/2024I’m not familiar with the Xu paper, are you referring to this one? scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=e... If so, I’ll take a look and get back to youscholar.google.comGoogle Scholar 100
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 22/09/2024There are potentially ways to leverage additional comparisons in this setting to get at effects of changes in treatment intensity. Eg two units treated with low intensity at the same time can be compared when one of them gets increased intensity later Just some quick thoughts based on new DiD logic 100
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 22/09/2024Here’s how I think about complicated rollouts like this: Instead of treatment cohorts like in the new DiD lit, there are treatment trajectories. Unique paths in time x intensity space are like cohorts Since there are finite intensities, i think this is an easier problem than cont. treatments. 100
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 14/09/2024I recently remembered the time when I was doing a lit review for @seankhiggins.bsky.social in my first RA job and I told him about a cool paper I’d read in “some journal called ‘Econometrica’” The lab really got a kick out of that one 010
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 26/08/2024Cool/interesting to see so many recent follows on here! I’ll try to make it worthwhile and post more 010
Reposted by Joel FergusonPierre Biscaye @pbiscaye.bsky.social · 01/12/2023Excited to see my JMP in the World Bank DIME Blog today! tinyurl.com/3aa5w7bc Many studies show short-run effects of agricultural shocks on violent conflict. My JMP asks: what about the long-run? I find that desert locust swarm exposure persistently s conflict over the next 14 yrs. A 🧵 1/13 073
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 15/11/2023Today I’m leading a methods workshop at Berkeley ARE on shift share designs and the slides are up on my website! I go over three different paths to identification and the implications of each joelferg.github.io/blog/shift_s... 010
Reposted by Joel FergusonCaroline Krafft @ckrafftc.bsky.social · 31/10/2023Pacific Conference for Development Economics (PacDev) Saturday, March 9, 2024 Stanford King Center on Global Development Submit Your Paper Paper submissions are due by 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, December 10, 2023 #Econsky cega.submittable.com/submit/27734...cega.submittable.comCenter for Effective Global Action - Pacific Conference For Development Economics (PacDev) 2024 - St... 02215
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 24/10/2023We’re also looking for a technical post doc to work more on the data-side of things making sure the mosaics and models we produce are as high-quality as possible www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.... 010
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 24/10/2023We’re using these images to construct measures of population, wealth, land use, building footprints, and road networks. You would be using these new data to answer a causal question related to e.g. long-run growth, land degradation, urban form, etc 020
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 24/10/2023Come join our awesome team working to understand long-run outcomes in Africa using a massive newly-digitized collection of aerial photographs spanning the 1950s-80s! www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing....aeaweb.org 241
Joel Ferguson @joelferguson.bsky.social · 15/10/2023I like Brian’s suggestions. One thing we show in one of the appendix figures is that it looks like the rate of adoption goes up after big institutional changes/events e.g. the introduction of the AEA RCT Registry (no formal test of this though) 020