Research & Media Coverage

(pd = Postdoctoral mentee | ** = PhD advisee | * = Master’s advisee | ^ = Undergraduate advisee)

  1. Balasubramanya, S. 2025. Expectations from technologies for managing groundwater should be realistic. PLOS Water, 4(9),  e0000433. [Paper] [Watertalk] [Dialogue Earth]
  1. Balasubramanya, S. 2025. Groundwater pricing in agriculture in South Asia: research for practical policymaking. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 19 [Paper] [Watertalk] [Dialogue Earth]
  1. Balasubramanya, S. 2025. Groundwater use in agriculture in South Asia: the role of technology.  Agricultural Economics, 56, 474-484 [Paper] [Watertalk] [Dialogue Earth]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Kafle, K. 2025. Adoption of land restoration activities in Ethiopia: understanding gender-labor dimensions. Land Use Policy, 150, 107458. [Paper] [World Bank Flagship Report] [World Bank Seminar]
  1. Kafle, K., Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D., Khadka, M. 2024. Solar-powered irrigation in Nepal: implications for fossil fuel use and groundwater extraction. Environmental Research Letters, 19, 084012. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Garrick, D., Brozovic, B., Ringler, C., Rodella, A-S., Zaveri, E., Buisson, M-C., Durga, N., Schmitter, P., Kishore, A., Minh, T., Chandra, A., Balasubramanya, S., Hope, L., Kafle, K., Stifel, D. 2024. Risks from solar-powered groundwater irrigation. Science, 383, pp. 256-258 [Paper] [World Bank Water Blog] [Forbes] ] [Yale Environment 360] [Scientific American] [Heise Online] [Environmental News Network] [Techxplore] [MyScience] [Waterloo News] [Water for Food Institute, University of Nebraska] 
  1. Ghimire, T.*, Harou, A., Balasubramanya, S. 2023. Migration, gender labor division and food insecurity in Tajikistan. Food Policy, 116, 102438. [Paper]
  1. Garrick, D., Balasubramanya, S., Beresford, M., Wutich, A., Gilson, G.G., Jorgensen, I., Brozović, N., Cox, M., Dai, X., Erfurth, S., Rimšaitė, R., Svensson, J., Jones, J.T., Unnikrishnan, H., Wight, C., Villamayor-Tomas,S., Mendoza, K.V. 2023. A systems perspective on water markets: barriers, bright spots, and building blocks for the next generation. Environmental Research Letters, 18, 031001. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Buisson, M-C., Mitra, A.**, Stifel, D. 2023. Price, credit or ambiguity? Increasing small-scale irrigation in Ethiopia. World Development, 163, 106149. [Paper] [Agrilinks]
  1. Mitra, A.**, Balasubramanya, S., Brouwer, R. 2023. Can cash incentives modify groundwater pumping behaviors? Evidence from an experiment in Punjab. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 105, 861-887. [Paper] [Indian Express]
  1. Kafle, K.pd, Balasubramanya, S. 2022. Reducing food insecurity through equitable investments in irrigation: The case of Niger. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, 1, 494-515. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Buisson, M-C. 2022. Positive incentives for managing groundwater in the presence of informal water markets: perspectives from India. Environmental Research Letters, 17, 101001. [Paper] [India Water Portal]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Brozovic, N., Fishman, R., Lele, S., Wang, Z. 2022. Managing irrigation under increasing water scarcity. Agricultural Economics, 53, 976-984. [Paper]   
  1. Kafle, K.pd, Balasubramanya, S. 2022. Can perceptions of reduction in physical water availability affect irrigation behaviour? Evidence from Jordan. Climate and Development,15, 353-365. [Paper] [IFAD Blog][Agrilinks] [Agrilinks] [PreventionWeb-UNDRR] 
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Lele, U. 2022. Expanding irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Water Economics and Policy, 8, 2171103. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D., Alvi, M.pd, Ringler, C. 2021. The role of social identity in improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health services: Evidence from Nepal. Development Policy Review, 40, e12588. [Paper] [IFPRI Blog]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D., MacDonnell, R. 2021. Water shortages, irrigation frequency and preference for agricultural services: the case of Jordan. Irrigation and Drainage, 71, 437-451. [Paper] [Relief Web UNOCHR] [Smart Water Magazine] [IWMI Blog]
  1. Buisson, M-C., Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D. 2021. Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture, and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal. Journal of Development Studies, 57, 1893-1911. [Paper]
  1. Horbulyk, T., Kafle, K.pd, Balasubramanya, S. 2021. Community response to the provision of alternative water supplies: a focus on chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in rural Sri Lanka. Water International, 46, 37-50. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D. 2020. Water, agriculture and poverty in an era of climate change: why do we know so little? Food Policy, 93. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Stifel, D., Horbulyk, T., Kafle. Kpd.  2020. Chronic kidney disease and household behaviors in Sri Lanka: Historial choices of drinking water and agrochemical use. Economics and Human Biology, 37, 100862. [Paper] [Daily Mirror Sri Lanka]
  1. Kafle, Kpd., Balasubramanya, S., Horbulyk, T. 2019. Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka: a profile of affected districts reliant on groundwater. Science of the Total Environment, 694, pp. 133767. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S. 2019. Effects of training duration and the role of gender on farm participation in water user associations in Southern Tajikistan: implications for irrigation management. Agricultural Water Management, 216, pp. 1-11. [Paper] [BBC] [BBC] [Farming First] [Asia Times] [The Diplomat] [Inter Press Services] [Agrilinks] [World Bank Water Blog] [Youtube Agrilinks]
  1. Clement, F., Buisson, M.C., Leder, S., Balasubramanya, S., Saikia, P., Bastakoti, R., Karki, E., van Koppen, B. 2019. From women’s empowerment to food security: Revisiting global discourses through a cross-country analysis. Global Food Security, 23, 160-172. [Paper]
  1. Buisson, M.C, Balasubramanya, S. 2019. The effect of irrigation service delivery and training in agronomy on crop choice in Tajikistan. Land Use Policy, 81, pp. 175-184. [Paper] [Agrilinks] [Youtube Agrilinks]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Price, J.*, Horbulyk, T. 2018. Impacts assessments without true baselines: assessing the relative effects of training on the performance of water user associations in southern Tajikistan .Water Economics and Policy, 40(3), pp. 1850007. [Paper] [Agrilinks] [Youtube Agrilinks]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Horbulyk, T. 2018. Groundwater arsenic in Bangladesh: what’s new for policy research? Water Policy, 20(3), pp. 461-474. [Paper] [SciDev] [La Voz] [Devex]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Evans, B., Hardy, R.*, Ahmed, R., Habib, A., Asad, N. S. M., Rahman, M., Hasan, M., Dey, D., Camargo-Valero, M., Fletcher, L., Rao, K.C., Fernando, S.pd 2017. Towards sustainable sanitation management: establishing the costs and willingness to pay for emptying and transporting sludge in rural districts with high rates of access to latrines. PLOS ONE, 12(3), pp. e0171735.  [Paper] [NPR] [Deutsche Welle] [The Financial Times] [BBC Bangla] [Inter Press Services] [Phys.Org] [The Guardian] [MENAFN] [Semana-Columbia] [KALW-USA] [Delaware Public Media USA] [The Wire India]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Evans, B., Ahmed, R., Habib, A., Asad, N. S. M, Rahman, M., Hasan, M., Dey, D., Camargo-Valero, M., Rao, K.C., Fernando, S. pd 2016. Take it away: the need for designing fecal sludge disposal services for single-pit latrines. Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 7(1), pp.121-128. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Evans, B., Ahmed, R., Habib, A., Asad, N. S. M., Vuong, L.*, Rahman, M., Hasan, M., Dey, D., Camargo-Valero, M. 2016. Pump it up: making single-pit emptying safer in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 6 (3), pp.456-464. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Pfaff, A., Bennear, L., Tarozzi, A., Ahmed, K.M., van Geen, A. 2014. Evolution of households’ responses to the groundwater arsenic crisis in Bangladesh: information on environmental health risks can have increasing behavioral impact over time. Environment and Development Economics, 19(5), pp. 631-647. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Giordano, M., Wichelns, D., Sherpa, S.* 2014. Sharing hydropower revenues in Nepal, over time and across districts and regions. Water Resources and Rural Development, 4, pp.104-111. [Paper]
  1. Bennear, L., Tarozzi, A., Pfaff, A., Balasubramanya, S., Ahmed, K.M., van Geen, A. 2013. Impact of a randomized controlled trial in arsenic risk communication on household water-source choices in Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 65(2), pp. 225-240. [Paper]
  1. Balasubramanya, S., Wichelns, D. 2012. Economic incentives can enhance policy efforts to improve water quality in Asia. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 28(2), pp. 217-231. [Paper]