Degrees

B.A., University of Virginia; M.P.Aff., University of Texas at Austin; Ph.D., Harvard University

About

Professor Olmstead’s general research and teaching interests are in the area of environmental and natural resource economics and policy, including both natural resource management and pollution control. Her current area of primary research is the economics of water supply and demand, with a focus on urban settings. In particular, she is interested in measuring the effectiveness of various policy instruments, such as increasing block pricing and nonprice demand management programs, in dealing with urban water scarcity. Her long-term research interests include the determinants of access to clean drinking water among low-income populations in the United States and developing countries; efficiency losses due to economic underpricing of public water supply; and current and potential applications of water marketing and water quality trading.