Ram Ranjan

Biography

I did my PhD on the economics of climate change management at Penn State University in 2003. Next, I worked at the USDA's Economic Research Services in Washington DC exploring the reasons behind the low success rate of advanced water markets in the US. In 2004, I joined the Food and Resource Economics department at University of Florida in Gainesville, where I worked on the economics of invasive species management. I moved to Australia in 2007, joining CSIRO as a senior research scientist to work on the economics of water scarcity management. I joined Macquarie University in 2009. A unifying theme for my recent work has been managing climate risks through mitigation and adaptation measures as well as understanding how changes in our natural environment create complex feedbacks in inter-linked human-ecological and economic systems. Some of my current work has been towards modelling the optimal management of socio-economic and ecological systems exhibiting non-linear dynamics and faced with endogenous risks. Examples include, understanding how aquatic systems respond to multiple stressors, how farmers adapt to prolonged water scarcity by seeking alternate occupations through accumulation of human and social capitals, determinants of entrepreneurial ventures and success rates, quantifying and modelling resilience of water starved farmers, determinants of collective action in groundwater management, etc.

Research Interest

• Leadership • Teams • Employee attitudes and performance