HURRY UP OR WAIT: ARE PRIVATE INVESTMENTS IN CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION DELAYED?

Charles Sims, Sarah E. Null (), Josue Medellin-Azuara () and Augustina Odame ()
Additional contact information
Sarah E. Null: ��Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, NR 210, Logan, UT. 84322-5210, US
Josue Medellin-Azuara: ��Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Merced, USA
Augustina Odame: �School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, Italy

Climate Change Economics (CCE), 2021, vol. 12, issue 04, 1-36

Abstract: Adaptation gaps arise when observed adaptation to climate change is slower than perceived adaptation potential. Two common explanations for adaptation gaps are (1) private parties failing to recognize that the climate is changing and (2) the cost of adaptation is higher than commonly believed. This paper shows how these two explanations are linked and that the likelihood and duration of adaptation gaps depend on whether climate change is characterized by stationary or non-stationary dynamics. Using an investment in water-saving irrigation in California’s Central Valley as an illustrative example, we find little evidence that failing to account for climate change would explain adaptation gaps. A more likely explanation for adaptation gaps is a failure to account for the adaptation option value that arises due to the possibility of maladaptation.

Keywords: Real options; adaptation gap; irrigation; water scarcity; climate variability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S2010007821500123
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:ccexxx:v:12:y:2021:i:04:n:s2010007821500123

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S2010007821500123

Access Statistics for this article

Climate Change Economics (CCE) is currently edited by Robert Mendelsohn

More articles in Climate Change Economics (CCE) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().