Objective More than 50% of total water abstractions in Southern Europe come from the agricultural sector, rising to more than 80% in some regions. Water abstractions are particularly high and fast growing in profitable irrigated areas in the Mediterranean Basin, where agricultural demand enters in direct competition with basic environmental services increasingly often. Urgent action is needed to address this unsustainable trade-off. Economic instruments represent a means of adapting demand to collectively agreed goals and thus relief pressure over stressed EU water bodies. In particular, recent water resources research has put forward the role that can be played by agricultural water markets and drought insurance for irrigated agriculture. These two instruments have been already tested (markets) or at least explored (insurance) in a EU context, but it is still unclear what can be expected from them. The objective of my research is advancing in the design and development of agricultural water markets and insurance systems that contribute to the implementation of an effective and efficient water policy mix in the EU. In a first stage I will develop quantitative methods using Revealed Preferences Models and Agent Based Models to estimate the economic and environmental outcomes of the proposed instruments under different scenarios. In the second stage I will use an analytical framework to critically assess the efficiency and effectiveness of drought insurance and water markets in a wider policy context. Theoretical constructions will be illustrated with empirical applications in the Po River Basin District (RBD) in Italy and the Segura RBD in Spain. Fields of science social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiespublic policiessocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsnatural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologydrainage basinsagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagricultureengineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringnatural resources managementwater management Keywords Water economics economic instruments water markets agricultural insurance Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator FONDAZIONE ENI ENRICO MATTEI Net EU contribution € 168 277,20 Address CORSO MAGENTA 63 COMPLESSO IMMOBILIARE LE STELLINE 20123 Milano Italy See on map Region Nord-Ovest Lombardia Milano Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 168 277,20