My current research projects examine the economic benefits of water pollution control, the externalities associated with oil and gas development, free-riding in dam placement and water withdrawals in transboundary river basins, the welfare gains from water marketing, and many other topics in environmental economics and policy. I have also published many papers on water demand estimation and water conservation policy, and a bit on climate and energy policy.

You’ll find a list of my working papers and publications below. I’ve provided links to current working papers for those I’ve submitted or am planning to submit to economics journals. I cannot provide links on this site to working papers I’ve submitted or plan to submit to science journals, but please feel free to email me and request a copy. Similarly, papers published with open access have clickable links, and those behind a paywall do not, but I will gladly send you any paper on request.

 

Working papers and work in progress

“What are the likely air pollution impacts of carbon capture, utilization and storage?” with Andrew Waxman and HR Huber-Rodriguez (in revise and resubmit).

“Bringing hydrologic realism to water markets,” with Danielle Grogan, Matt Lisk, Shan Zuidema, Jiameng Zheng, Karen Fisher-Vanden, Richard Lammers, Lara Fowler, and Alexander Prusevitch (under review).

“Harmonized database of western U.S. water rights,” with Matthew D. Lisk, Danielle S. Grogan, Shan Zuidema, Jiameng Zheng, Robert Caccese, Darrah Peklak, Karen Fisher-Vanden, Richard B. Lammers, and Lara Fowler (under review).

“Ambiguous climate policy: A tax credit is increasing deployment of carbon capture and storage, but will it reduce emissions?” with Ben Leibowicz, Chuck Mason, Andrew Waxman, HR Huber-Rodriguez, and Joseph Stemmler (under review).

“Does drought reduce economic activity?” with Hilary Sigman (in progress).

“Gender and refereeing in environmental economics,” with Prashant Bharadwaj, Yashna Nandan, and Matthew Neidell (in submission).

“Floods, shifting risk perceptions, and property prices,” with Doug Wrenn and Julian Plough (in progress).

“U.S. Counties with More Drinking-Water Lithium Do Not Have Less Suicide,” with Paul von Hippel and Jiameng Zheng.

“Learning from historical water transfers in the United States: are gains from trade higher or lower under water stress?” with Karen Fisher-Vanden and Renata Rimsaite.

“Induced development in risky locations: Fire suppression and land use in the American West,” with Carolyn Kousky.

 

Books

Keohane, Nathaniel O., and Sheila M. Olmstead. Markets and the Environment: An Introduction to Environmental and Resource Economics, Island Press, Washington, D.C. First edition 2007 (274 pp.), Second edition 2016 (307 pp.).

 

Published papers

Baker, Jonathan, Lori S. Bennear, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2023. Impacts of information disclosure on drinking water violations, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 10(3): 787-818.

Bateman, Ian, Bonnie Keeler, Sheila Olmstead, and John Whitehead. 2023. Perspectives on valuing water quality improvements using stated preference methods. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 (18) e2217456120.

Kuwayama, Yusuke, Sheila M. Olmstead, and Jiameng Zheng. 2022. A more comprehensive estimate of the value of water quality. Journal of Public Economics 207: 104600.

Keiser, David A., Sheila M. Olmstead, Kevin J. Boyle, Victor B. Flatt, Bonnie L. Keeler, Daniel J. Phaneuf, Joseph S. Shapiro, and Jay P. Shimshack. 2022. The evolution of WOTUS and the role of economics. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 16(1): 147-152.

Zhu, Qianru, Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Joshua W. Busby, Sarang Shidore, David E. Adelman, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2022. Enhancing policy realism in energy system optimization models: politically feasible decarbonization pathways for the United States. Energy Policy 161: 112754.

Keiser, David, Sheila Olmstead, Kevin Boyle, Victor Flatt, Bonnie Keeler, Cathy Kling, Dan Phaneuf, Joe Shapiro, and Jay Shimshack. 2021. A water rule that turns a blind eye to transboundary pollution. Science 372(6539): 241-243.

Downing, John, Steve Polasky, Sheila Olmstead, and Steve Newbold. 2021. Protecting local water quality has global benefits. Nature Communications 12: 2709.

Olmstead, Sheila, and Jiameng Zheng. 2021. Policy instruments for water pollution control in developing countries. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 15(2): 261-280.

Waxman, Andrew, Sean Corcoran, Andrew Robison, Benjamin Leibowicz, and Sheila Olmstead. 2021. Leveraging scale economies and policy incentives: carbon capture, utilization and storage in Gulf clusters. Energy Policy 156: 112452.

Rimsaite, Renata, Karen Fisher-Vanden, Sheila Olmstead, and Danielle Grogan. 2021. How well do U.S. western water markets convey economic information?, Land Economics 97(1): 1-16.

Kuwayama, Yusuke, Sheila Olmstead, Derek Wietelman, and Jiameng Zheng. 2020. Trends in nutrient-related pollution as a potential source of water quality damages: a case study of Texas, USA. Science of the Total Environment, 724: 137962.

Waxman, Andrew, Achmad Khomaini,  Benjamin Leibowicz, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2020. Emissions in the stream: estimating the greenhouse gas impacts of an oil and gas boom. Environmental Research Letters, 15: 014004.

Fitzgerald, Timothy, Yusuke Kuwayama, Alexandra Thompson, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2020. Dynamic impacts of U.S. energy development on agricultural land use. Energy Policy, 137: 111163.

Kuwayama, Yusuke, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2020. Hydroeconomic modeling of resource recovery from wastewater: implications for water quality and water quantity management. Journal of Environmental Quality 49: 593–602. 1-10 doi: 10.1002/jeq2.20050.

Rhodes, Joshua D., Carey King, Gürcan Gulen, Sheila M. Olmstead, James S. Dyer, Robert E. Hebner, Fred C. Beach, Thomas F. Edgar, and Michael E. Webber. 2018. Corrigendum to “A geographically resolved method to estimate levelized power plant costs with environmental externalities” [Energy Policy 102: 491-499]. Energy Policy 118: 514-515.

Rhodes, Joshua D., Carey King, Gürcan Gulen, Sheila M. Olmstead, James S. Dyer, Robert E. Hebner, Fred C. Beach, Thomas F. Edgar, and Michael E. Webber. 2017. A geographically resolved method to estimate levelized power plant costs with environmental externalities. Energy Policy 102: 491-499.

Olmstead, Sheila M., Karen A. Fisher-Vanden, and Renata Rimsaite. 2016. Climate change and water resources: some adaptation tools and their limits. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000642.

Olmstead, Sheila M., and Hilary Sigman. 2015. Damming the commons: an empirical analysis of international cooperation and conflict in dam location. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 2(4): 497-526.

Mason, Charles F., Lucija A. Muehlenbachs, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2015. The economics of shale gas development. Annual Review of Resource Economics 7: 269-289.

Shih, Jhih-Shyang, James E. Saiers, Shimon C. Anisfeld, Ziyan Chu, Lucija A. Muehlenbachs, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2015. Characterization and analysis of liquid waste from Marcellus Shale gas development. Environmental Science and Technology 49(16): 9557-9565.

Kuwayama, Yusuke, Alan Krupnick, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2015. Water quality and quantity impacts of hydraulic fracturing. Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, doi: 10.1007/s40518-014-0023-4.

Olmstead, Sheila M., and Nathan Richardson. 2014. Managing the risks of shale gas development using innovative legal and regulatory approaches. William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review 39(1): 177-199.

Small, Mitchell J., Paul C. Stern, Elizabeth Bomberg, Susan M. Christopherson, Bernard D. Goldstein, Andrei L. Israel, Robert B. Jackson, Alan Krupnick, Meagan S. Mauter, Jennifer Nash, D. Warner North, Sheila M. Olmstead, Aseem Prakash, Barry Rabe, Nathan Richardson, Susan Tierney, Thomas Webler, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, and Barbara Zielinska. 2014. Risks and risk governance in unconventional shale gas development. Environmental Science and Technology 48(15): 8289-8297.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2014. Climate change adaptation and water resource management: A review of the empirical literature. Energy Economics 46: 500-509.

Kousky, Carolyn, Sheila M. Olmstead, Margaret A. Walls, and Molly Macauley. 2013. Strategically placing green infrastructure: benefits and costs of land conservation in the floodplain. Environmental Science and Technology 47(8): 3563-3570.

Olmstead, Sheila M., Lucija Muehlenbachs, Jhih-Shyang Shih, Ziyan Chu, and Alan Krupnick. 2013. Shale gas development impacts on surface water quality in Pennsylvania. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110(13): 4962-4967.

Fisher-Vanden, Karen A., and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2013. Moving pollution trading from air to water: potential, problems, and prognosis. Journal of Economic Perspectives 27(1): 147-172.

Mansur, Erin T., and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2012. The value of scarce water: measuring the inefficiency of municipal regulations. Journal of Urban Economics 71: 332-346.

Olmstead, Sheila M., and Robert N. Stavins. 2012. Three key elements of a post-2012 international climate policy architecture. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 6(1): 65-85.

Akram, Agha Ali, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2011. The value of household water service quality in Lahore, Pakistan. Environmental and Resource Economics 49(2): 173-198.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2010. The economics of managing scarce water resources. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 4(2): 179-198.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2010. The economics of water quality. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 4(1): 44-62.

Mendelsohn, Robert O., and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2009. The economic valuation of environmental amenities and disamenities: Methods and applications. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 34: 325-347.

Bennear, Lori S., Katrina K. Jessoe, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2009. Sampling out: regulatory avoidance and the Total Coliform Rule. Environmental Science and Technology 43(14): 5176-5182.

Olmstead, Sheila M., and Robert N. Stavins. 2009. Comparing price and non-price approaches to water conservation. Water Resources Research, 45(4), W04301.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2009. Reduced-form vs. structural models of water demand under non-linear prices. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 27(1): 84-94.

Bennear, Lori S., and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2008. The impact of the “right to know”: information disclosure and the violation of drinking water standards. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 56(2), September 2008: 117-130.

Olmstead, Sheila M., W. Michael Hanemann, and Robert N. Stavins. 2007. Water demand under alternative price structures. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 54(2): 181-198.

Olmstead, Sheila M., and Robert N. Stavins. 2007. A meaningful second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol. The Economists’ Voice 4(3).

Olmstead, Sheila M., and Robert N. Stavins. 2006. An international policy architecture for the post-Kyoto era. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 95(2): 35-38.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2004. Thirsty colonias: rate regulation and the provision of water service. Land Economics 80(1): 136-150.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2003. Water supply and poor communities: what’s price got to do with it? Environment 45(10): 22-35.

Hahn, Robert W., Sheila M. Olmstead, and Robert N. Stavins. 2003. Environmental regulation in the 1990s: A retrospective analysis. Harvard Environmental Law Review 27(2): 377-415.

 

Book Chapters

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2009, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2022, 2025. Applying market principles to environmental policy. In: Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century, 7^th , 8^th , 9^th , 10^th , 11^th and 12^th editions.  Ed. Norman J. Vig, Michael E. Kraft, and Barry G. Rabe, Congressional Quarterly Press, Washington, DC.

Kuwayama, Yusuke, and Sheila M. Olmstead. 2015. Water quality and economics: willingness to pay, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and new research frontiers. In: The Handbook on the Economics of Natural Resources. Ed. David Layton and Robert Halvorsen, Elgar, Amsterdam: 474-501.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2012. The role of market incentives in environmental policy. In: The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Environmental Policy.  Ed. Sheldon Kamieniecki and Michael E. Kraft, Oxford University Press, New York: 553-581.

Kousky, Carolyn, Sheila M. Olmstead, and Roger Sedjo. 2011. In harm’s way: Homeowner behavior and wildland fire policy. In: Wildfire Policy: Law and Economics Perspectives. Ed. Dean Lueck and Karen Bradshaw, Taylor and Francis, Washington, DC: 178-199.

Olmstead, Sheila M. 2007. The whole and the sum of its parts: Comments on David Victor’s “Fragmented carbon markets and reluctant nations.” In: Architectures for Agreement: Addressing Global Climate Change in the Post-Kyoto World.  Ed. Joseph Aldy and Robert Stavins, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK: 173-184.