Dr. Colby's research is in natural resource and environmental economics and in public policy. Some of her current projects involve nonmarket valuation of natural amenities, analyzing transactions costs generated by regulatory policies, evaluating the reallocation of water resources among economic sectors, economic tools to resolve environmental conflicts, and identifying strategies to promote efficient allocation of risk associated with variability in water supply and water quality.

Selected Publications

John E. Thorson, Sarah Britton, and Bonnie G. Colby, editors. Tribal Water Rights: Essays in Contemporary Law, Policy, and Economics. University of Arizona Press, 2006.

Colby, B.G., J. Thosser, and S. Britton, Smoke on the Water: One Hundred Years of Interjurisdictional Water Conflicts. University of Arizona Press, 2004.

Colby, B.G. "Economic Characteristics of Successful Dispute Resolution," chapter in The Promise and Performance of Environmental Conflict Resolution, R. O'Leary and L. Bingham, editors, Resources for the Future Press, 2003.

Colby, Bonnie G. "Economics of Urban Water Demand and Supply." In Managing Urban Water Demand, N. Buras, ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.

T.P. D'Estree and B.G. Colby, Braving the Curents: Resolving Conflicts Over the Water of the American West, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

Colby, Bonnie G. "Cap-and-Trade Policy Challenges! A Tale of Three Markets." Land Economics, 76(4):638-658, 2000.

Colby, B.G. "Negotiated Transactions as a Conflict Resolution Mechanism: Bargaining over Water in the American West." Markets for Water—Potential and Performance. M. Rosegrant, A. Dinar, and W.K. Easter, eds. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998.

Kirchhoff, Stefanie, Bonnie G. Colby, and Jeffrey T. LaFrance. "Evaluating the Performance of Benefit Transfer: An Empirical Inquiry." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 33:75-93, 1997.

Colby, B.G. "Markets as a Response to Water Scarcity: Policy Challenges and Economic Implications." In Advances in the Economics of Environmental Resources. D. Hall, ed. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, pp. 211-232, 1997.

Leones, Julie, Bonnie Colby, Dennis Cory, and Liz Ryan. "Measuring Regional Economic Impacts of Stream Flow Depletions," Water Resources Research, 33:831-838, 1997.

Colby, B.G. "Bargaining Over Agricultural Property Rights." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77:1186-1191, 1995.

Colby, Bonnie G. "Regulation, Imperfect Markets and Transaction Costs: The Elusive Quest for Efficiency in Water Allocation," Handbook of Environmental Economics. D. Bromley, ed., pp. 475-502. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995.

Colby, Bonnie G., K. Crandall, and D. Bush. "Water Rights Transactions, Market Values and Price Dispersion." Water Resources Research 29:1565-1572, 1993.

Colby, Bonnie G. "Transactions Cost and Efficiency in Western Water Allocation." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 72:1184-1192, 1990.

Return to the Faculty Profiles