Roy Brouwer | Economics

MSc Agricultural Economics
(Wageningen Agricultural University, NL)

PhD Environmental Economics
(University of East Anglia, UK)

Areas of specialization: environmental economics, water economics

Research interests

I have a broad interest in environmental economics to support sustainable development and natural resource management in developed and developing countries. My main research interests are in water resource economics, in particular water resource valuation, hydro-economic modelling and water policy instruments. In the department of Economics I teach the course Water Resource Economics.

Biography

Before joining the department of Economics at the University of Waterloo, I was head of the department Environmental Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. I worked 5 years outside academic research as economist in the Dutch Water Ministry where I was responsible for the economic underpinning of (inter)national water policy in areas such as climate change and flood control, water quality improvement, urban water management and river restoration. Since 1 January 2016 I am the Executive Director of the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo where I also lead the Water Economics Research Group. In 2018 I was awarded a University Research Chair for my work in the field of Water Resource Economics and in 2021 I received the Faculty of Arts Award for Excellence in Research. I am a member of the External Advisory Board of the Vienna Technical University's Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems and the International Scientific Advisory Committee of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, and I am the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal Water Resources and Economics.

Selected publications

Dugstad, A., Brouwer, R., Grimsrud, K., Kipperberg, G., Lindhjem, H., Navrud, S. “Nature is ours! Psychological ownership and preferences for wind energy”. Energy Economics, 129, 107239, (2024).
Brouwer, R. et al. “Spatial optimization of nutrient reduction measures on agricultural land to improve water quality: A coupled modeling approach”. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 71(3-4): 329-353, (2023).
Liu, H. and Brouwer, R. “What is the future of water quality trading?” Contemporary Economic Policy, 41(1): 194-217, (2023).
Mitra, A., Balasubramanya, S., Brouwer, R. “Can cash incentives modify groundwater pumping behaviors? Evidence from an experiment in Punjab”. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 105(3): 861-887, (2023).
Pan, Z., Brouwer, R., Emelko, M. “Correlating forested green infrastructure to water rates and adverse water quality incidents: A spatial instrumental variable regression model”. Journal of Forest Policy and Economics, 140: 102756, (2022).
Liu, H. and Brouwer, R. “Incentivizing the future adoption of best management practices on agricultural land to protect water resources: The role of past participation and experiences”. Ecological Economics, 196, 107389, (2022).
Garcia, J. and Brouwer, R. "A multiregional input-output optimization model to assess the economic impacts of water supply disruptions in the Great Lakes Basin". Economic Systems Research,33(4): 509-535, (2021).
Pan, Z. and Brouwer, R. "A theoretical modeling framework to support investment decisions in green and grey infrastructure under risk and uncertainty". Journal of Forest Economics,36(4): 407-440, (2021).
Dai, D., Brouwer, R. and Kun, L. "Measuring the economic value of urban river restoration". Ecological Economics, 190: 107186, (2021).
Brouwer, R. and Tarfasa, S. "Testing hypothetical bias in a framed field experiment". Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 68(3): 343-357, (2020).
Logar, I., Brouwer, R. and Campbell, D. "Does attribute order influence attribute information processing in discrete choice experiments?". Resource and Energy Economics, 60: 101164, (2020).
Brouwer, R. and Neverre, N. "A global meta-analysis of groundwater quality valuation studies". European Review of Agricultural Economics, 47(3): 893-932, (2020).
Schaafsma, M. and Brouwer, R. "Substitution effects in spatially explicit discrete choice experiments". Environmental and Resource Economics, 75(2): 323-349, (2020).
Eamen, L., Brouwer, R. and Razavi, S. "The economic impacts of water supply restrictions due to climate and policy change: a transboundary river basin supply-side input-output analysis". Ecological Economics, 172: 106532, (2020).
Glatt, M., Brouwer, R., and Logar, I. "Combining risk attitudes in a lottery game and flood risk protection decisions in a discrete choice experiment". Environmental and Resource Economics, 74(4): 1533-1562, (2019).