ALEXANDER PFAFF (Alex Pfaff)

 

Thanks for visiting. As of July 1, 2007 I have relocated:

Associate Professor, Public Policy Department

Duke University (email  alex.pfaff@duke.edu )

 

(for more frequent updates and/or additional information

please also see my official Duke Public Policy web site

http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/PublicPolicy/faculty/alex.pfaff

& my Duke personal web page www.duke.edu/~asp9)

 

 

I remain in a Columbia University collaborative position

as an Adjunct Research Scholar in The Earth Institute

 

Research / Education / Grants

were last updated below on

August 1, 2007


RESEARCH (reverse chronology within each topical area or sub-area)

 

Deforestation

Brazilian Amazon

  • (submitted) Pfaff, A., E.J. Reis, R. Walker, W. Laurance, S. Perz, C. Bohrer, J.A. Robalino, S. Aldrich, E. Arima, M. Caldas and K. Kirby "Roads & Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon"  download
  • Pfaff, A., J.A. Robalino, R. Walker, E.J. Reis, S. Perz, C. Bohrer, S. Aldrich, E. Arima, M. Caldas, W. Laurance and K. Kirby (2007) "Road Investments, Spatial Intensification and Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon". Journal of Regional Science 47:109-123  download
  • Pfaff, A. (1999). "What Drives Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?: Evidence from Satellite and Socioeconomic Data". Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 37(1):26-43. download

Costa Rica -- articles

  • (submitted) Robalino J.A., A. Pfaff, A. Sanchez, F. Alpizar, C. Leon and C.M. Rodriguez. "Deforestation Impacts of Environmental Services Payments: Costa Rica's PSA Program 2000-2005" 
  • (submitted) Kerr, S. and A. Pfaff  "Development and Deforestation: evidence from Costa Rica" download old version  
  • (revise & resubmit) Robalino, J.A. and A. Pfaff  "Contagious Development: neighbors' interactions in deforestation"  download  
  • (revise & resubmit) Kerr, S., J. Hendy, S. Liu and A. Pfaff  "Tropical Forest Protection, Uncertainty and Environmental Integrity of Carbon Mitigation Policies  download
  • (forthcoming) Pfaff, A. and S. Kerr.  "What Would Have Happened? reviewing and improving estimated baselines for tropical forests and sequestered carbon". download
  • (forthcoming) Sanchez-Azofeifa, G.A., A. Pfaff, J. Robalino and J. Boomhower. "Costa Rica's Payment for Environmental Services Program: intention, implementation and impact". Conservation Biology download
  • Pfaff, A., S. Kerr and L. Lipper with R. Cavatassi, B. Davis, J. Hendy and A. Sanchez (2007). "Will Buying Tropical Forest Carbon Benefit the Poor? evidence from Costa Rica" Land Use Policy 24:600-610  download
  • Pfaff, A. and A. Sanchez (2004). "Deforestation Pressure and Biological Reserve Planning: A Conceptual Approach & An Illustrative Application For Costa Rica". Resource & Energy Economics 26:237-254. download  
  • Kerr, S., S. Liu, A. Pfaff and R.F. Hughes (2003) "Carbon Dynamics and Land-Use Choices: building a regional scale multidisciplinary model". Journal of Environmental Management 69:25-37. download
  • Sanchez-Azofeifa, G.A., G.C. Daily, A. Pfaff and C. Busch (2003). "Integrity and Isolation of Costa Rica's National Parks and Biological Reserves: examining the dynamics of land-cover change". Biological Conservation 109:123-135. download 
  • Pfaff, A., S. Kerr, R.F. Hughes, S. Liu, A. Sanchez, D. Schimel, J. Tosi and V. Watson (2000). "The Kyoto Protocol & Payments For Tropical Forest:   an interdisciplinary method for estimating carbon-offset supply and increasing the feasibility of a carbon market under the CDM".  Ecological Economics 35(2):203-221.download 

Costa Rica -- chapters

  • Pfaff A.and S. Kerr with R. Cavatassi, B. Davis, L. Lipper, A. Sanchez and J. Timmins (forthcoming). "Effects of Poverty on Deforestation: distinguishing behavior from location" in (ed.) Economics of poverty, environment and natural resource use. Wageningen University Environment / Resources.
  • Robalino J.A. and A. Pfaff with G.A. Sanchez-Azofeifa (forthcoming). "Estimating Spatial Interactions in Deforestation Decisions" in (ed.) Frontiers of Biodiversity Economics. Cambridge University Press
  • Kerr, S., A. Pfaff, A. Sanchez and M. Boscolo (2001). "How Can Carbon Sequestration In Tropical Forests Be Rewarded? evidence from Costa Rica", in Central America Project: Conservation and Competitiveness, edited by HIID, Cambridge MA.
  • Kerr, S., A. Pfaff and A. Sanchez (2001). "The Dynamics of Deforestation and the Supply of Carbon Sequestration:  Illustrative Results from Costa Rica", in Central America Project: Conservation and Competitiveness, edited by HIID, Cambridge MA

United States

  • (revise & resubmit)  Pfaff, A. "Regional Resource Benefits of Urban 'Unsprawl'". download 
  • Pfaff, A. (2000). "From Deforestation to Reforestation in New England, USA",  in Palo, M. and H. Vanhanen, eds. Global Prospects of Deforestation and Forest Transition.  United National University, World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), Helsinki, Kluwer.

 

Water & Climate

Water Quantity & Climate Forecasts (NE Brazil Drought & Peru Fishery)

  • (forthcoming) Broad, K., A. Pfaff, R. Taddei with S. Arumugam, U. Lall and F.A. de Souza Filho. "Climate, Stream Flow Prediction and Water Management in Northeast Brazil: societal trends and forecast value". Climatic Change 
  • Broad, K., A. Pfaff and M.H. Glantz (2002). "Effective & Equitable Dissemination of Seasonal-to-Interannual Climate Forecasts: policy implications from the Peruvian fishery during El Nino 1997-98".  Climatic Change 54(4):415-438.download 
  • Pfaff, A. and D.M. Peteet (2001). "Generating probabilities in support of societal decision making: the case of abrupt climate change".  EOS (American Geophysical Union).download 
  • Pfaff, A., K. Broad and M.H. Glants (1999). "Who benefits from seasonal-to-interannual climate forecasts?". Nature 397(6721):645-646, February 25th.download 

Water Quality & Testing (Bangladesh Arsenic)

  • (forthcoming) Madajewicz, M., A. Pfaff et al. "Can Information Alone Both Improve Awareness and Change Behavior? Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh" Journal of Development Economics download
  • Opar, A., A. Pfaff, A.A. Seddique, K.M. Ahmed, J. Graziano, and A. van Geen (2007). "Responses of 6500 Households to Arsenic Mitigation in Araihazar, Bangladesh". Health & Place 13:64 download
  • Ahmed, M.F., S. Ahuja, M. Alauddin, S.J. Hug, J.R. Lloyd, A. Pfaff, T. Pichler, C. Saltikov, M. Stute and A. van Geen (2006). "Ensuring Safe Drinking Water in Bangladesh".  Science 314:1687-88. download
  • Madajewicz M. and A. Pfaff (2005).  "Report on UNICEF K.A.P Survey Data" in Rosenboom, J. (ed.) Arsenic in 15 Upazilas in Bangladesh: an analysis of available data. UNICEF (with DFID and DPHE).  download

 

Households' Choices & Environmental / Air Quality

  • (revise & resubmit) Chaudhuri, S. and A. Pfaff. "Fuel Choice and Indoor Air Quality: a household-level perspective on economic growth and the environment". download 
  • Pfaff, A., S. Chaudhuri and H.L.M. Nye (2004). "Household Production & Environmental Kuznets Curves:  examining the desirability and feasibility of substitution". Environmental and Resource Economics 27(2):187-200. download 
  • Pfaff, A., S. Chaudhuri and H.L.M. Nye (2004). "Endowments, Preferences, Technologies and Abatement: growth-environment microfoundations". International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 4:209-228 (invited for special issue: growth & environment) download 
  • Pfaff, A., P. Barelli and S. Chaudhuri (2004). "Aid, Economic Growth, and Environmental Sustainability: rich-poor interactions and environmental choices in developing countries" International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 4:139-159 (invited for special issue: growth & environment) download 

 

Firms' Information & Environmental Regulation

  • Pfaff, A., C.W. Sanchirico, J. Lee and D. Prager (2004). "Big Field, Small Potatoes: An Empirical Assessment of EPA's Self-Audit Policy". Journal of Policy Analysis & Management 23(3):415-432  download 
  • Graff Zivin, J. and A. Pfaff (2004). "To Err On Humans Is Not Benign: incentives for adoption of medical error reporting systems". Journal of Health Economics 23:935-949  download
  • Kahn, M.E. and A. Pfaff (2000). "Informal Economies, Information and the Environment".  Journal of International Affairs 54(2):525-544 download
  • Pfaff, A. and C.W. Sanchirico (2000). "Environmental Self-Auditing: Setting the Proper Incentives for Discovery and Correction of Environmental Harm". Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 16(1):189-208 download

 

Other Reports

  • Taddei, R., K. Broad and A. Pfaff. "Integrating Climate and Water Management in Ceara: historical background, social and legal structures, and implications", for IRI-FUNCEME Ceara Project book. download
  • Meyerson, L.A., J. Baron, J. Melillo, R.J. Naiman, R. O'Malley, G. Orians, M. Palmer, A. Pfaff, S.W. Running, O. Sala (2005). "Aggregate Measures of Ecosystem Services: can we take the pulse of nature?" Frontiers in Ecology 3(1): 56-59.
  • Pfaff, A.S.P. and R.N. Stavins (1999). "Readings in the Field of Natural Resource and Environmental Economics" SSRN Working Paper (1,964 downloads). download from SSRN  

 

 

Education

  • Ph.D., Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995
  • B.A., Applied Math/Economics, summa cum laude, Yale, 1988
  • Thesis Fellow, MIT Program on Science and Policy of Global Change, 1994-1995
  • SSRC International Predissertation Fellow, 1993-1994
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, 1990-1993

 

Grants

    Deforestation -- Brazil

  • CoI, FAPERJ/CNPQ 'NEMESIS' grant for spatial analysis of deforestation, 2006-2009
  • CoI., NASA LBA grant to study Brazilian Amazon deforestation and climate, 2005-2007
  • CoI., NASA LBA grant to study Brazilian Amazon deforestation and roads, 2002-2005
  • P.I., Tinker Foundation Institutional Grant for study of forest fragmentation, 2001-2003
  • P.I., ISERP seed grant for analysis of forest fragmentation in Brazilian Amazon, 2001
  • P.I., CERC Small Grant to study forest fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazon, 1997

    Deforestation -- Costa Rica

  • P.I., IAI grant to study impacts on deforestation of conservation policies, 2007-2009
  • CoI, SSHRC grant to examine effects of Costa Rican conservation policy, 2004-2006
  • P.I., NSF-MMIA award for analysis of Costa Rica deforestation & carbon, 2000-2003
  • P.I., U.N. FAO funded letter of agreement to analyze poverty and deforestation, 2002
  • P.I., NCEAS - working group for the dynamic modeling of carbon supply, 2000-2002
  • P.I., Tinker Foundation Institutional Grant for carbon sequestration study, 1998-2000
  • P.I., NCEAS - working group for a carbon sequestration supply function, 1998-2000
  • P.I., CERC Small Grant to build a project team to study Costa Rican forests, 1996

    Water Quantity -- Northeast Brazil

  • CoI, Earth Institute CCI seed grant to study vulnerability in rainfed agriculture, 2007-2009
  • P.I., Tinker Foundation Institutional Grant to study water stakeholders' views, 2006-2008
  • CoI, NSF center to study group decision making under climate uncertainty, 2004-2009
  • CoI, NOAA grant on impacts of dam releases based on streamflow forecasts, 2004-2007
  • CoI, Gov. of Ceara funding for a forecast-based policy on water release and management

    Water Quality -- Bangladesh

  • CoPI, NSF HSD grant to study collective action in public good provision, 2006-2008
  • P.I., ISERP grant to expand our analysis of responses to arsenic contamination, 2002
  • P.I., Earth Institute seed grant for social science analysis of arsenic responses, 2000