PhD seminar – Mehdi Guelmamen
The 2026/02/18
From 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Event details :
Mehdi Guelmamen will present his paper entitled:
Water Quality and Price under Land Use Pressure: Economic and Institutional Perspectives.
Abstract: Recent drought episodes have underscored growing tensions in water resource management. These supply pressures coincide with mounting concerns over water quality, as both climate change and land use practices contribute to the degradation of surface and groundwater. Agriculture, in particular, has been singled out for its role in nitrate and pesticide contamination. This article investigates the economic and institutional determinants of raw water quality in France, with a specific focus on agricultural land use. Using spatial econometric models and a panel dataset covering the Rhin-Meuse basin from 2008 to 2023, we assess the extent to which agricultural activity influences nitrate and pesticide concentrations in water catchments. We also examine how social, geographic, and governance factors interact with land use patterns to shape pollution outcomes. Spatial spillover effects are explicitly accounted for, highlighting the role of neighborhood externalities in the degradation or protection of water resources. Our findings reveal that land use composition affects water quality and drinking water prices, with agriculture increasing nitrate pollution and costs, forest cover reducing prices, and significant spatial spillovers shaping both quality and pricing outcomes.
His paper will be commented by Philippe Delacote (DR, INRAE, BETA) and Marin Guinard (dPhD student, INRAE, BETA).
