Julia Berazneva

Associate Professor of Economics, Middlebury College

• Affiliate, Environmental Studies Program
• Co-Director, Vermont Center for Behavioral Science Research on Climate and the Environment

I study environmental and resource economics, with recent work on soil and forests in Sub-Saharan Africa and on public attitudes toward climate policy in the United States. I teach courses in microeconomic theory, environmental and climate change economics, and environment and development.

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Working Papers

• Soil Degradation in Sub-Saharan Agriculture
  Julia Berazneva, David Güereña, Annemie Maertens, and Hope Michelson. 2025. In review.
• Time and Risk Perceptions and Support for Climate Policy
  Julia Berazneva, Jeff Carpenter, Delaney Sullivan, and Peter Hans Matthews. 2025. In review.
• The Kids Are Alright: Environmental Concern Among Young Adults In The Time Of COVID
  Julia Berazneva, Michelle McCauley, and Peter Hans Matthews. 2023. In review.
• 'Still Strong:' The Effects of Hurricane Irene On The Preferences and Policy Views of Vermonters More Than One Decade Later
  Julia Berazneva, Jeff Carpenter, Michelle McCauley, Akhil Rao, and Peter Hans Matthews. 2025. In review.
• Health and Labor Impacts of Mining: Evidence from South Africa
  Julia Berazneva, Tanya S. Byker, and Elena Patel. 2025.

Published and Forthcoming Papers

• Correlated Pollutants, Avoidance, and Local Environmental Policy
  Richard Klotz and Julia Berazneva. The Energy Journal 46(5): 85–111, 2025.
• Moral Bandwidth and Environmental Concerns during a Public Health Crisis: Evidence from Germany
  Julia Berazneva, Daniel Graeber, Michelle McCauley, Sabine Zinn, and Peter Hans Matthews. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 228: 106753, 2024.
• Impacts of Environmental Degradation: Forest Loss, Malaria, and Child Outcomes in Nigeria
  Julia Berazneva and Tanya S. Byker. The Review of Economics and Statistics 106(5): 1254–67, 2024.
  Media: VoxDev
• Paying for Agricultural Information in Malawi: The Role of Soil Heterogeneity
  Julia Berazneva, Annemie Maertens, Wezi Mhango, and Hope Michelson. Journal of Development Economics 165: 103144, 2023.
• Local Standards, Behavioral Adjustments, and Welfare: Evaluating California's Ocean-Going Vessel Fuel Rule
  Richard Klotz and Julia Berazneva. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 9(3): 383–424, 2022.
• Local Lignocellulosic Biofuel and Biochar Co-Production in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Feedstock Provision in Economic Viability
  Julia Berazneva, Dominic Woolf, and David R. Lee. Energy Economics 93: 105031, 2021.
• Agricultural Productivity and Soil Carbon Dynamics: A Bioeconomic Model
  Julia Berazneva, Jon Conrad, David Güereña, Johannes Lehmann, and Dominic Woolf. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 101(4): 1021–46, 2019.
• Soil Management for Smallholders: Lessons from Kenya and Nepal
  Julia Berazneva and David Güereña. Choices 34(2), 2019.
• Fuelwood Source Substitution, Gender, and Shadow Prices in Western Kenya
  David Murphy, Julia Berazneva, and David R. Lee. Environment and Development Economics 23(6): 655–78, 2018.
• Allocation and Valuation of Smallholder Maize Residues in Western Kenya
  Julia Berazneva, David R. Lee, Frank Place, and George Jakubson. Ecological Economics 152: 172–182, 2018.
• Empirical Assessment of Subjective and Objective Soil Fertility Metrics in East Africa: Implications for Researchers and Policy Makers
  Julia Berazneva, Linden McBride, Megan Sheahan, and David Güereña. World Development 105: 367–382, 2018.
• Does Forest Loss Increase Human Disease? Evidence from Nigeria
  Julia Berazneva and Tanya S. Byker. American Economic Review P&P 107(5): 516–21, 2017.
• Water Hyacinth Control in Lake Victoria: Transforming an Ecological Catastrophe into Economic, Social, and Environmental Benefits
  David Güereña, Henry Neufeldt, Julia Berazneva, and Sam Duby. Sustainable Production and Consumption 3: 59–69, 2015.
• Audio Recording of Household Interviews to Ensure Data Quality
  Julia Berazneva. Journal of International Development 26(2): 290–296, 2014.
• Explaining the African Food Riots of 2007–2008: An Empirical Analysis
  Julia Berazneva and David R. Lee. Food Policy 39: 28–39, 2013.
• Africa's Dual Crises: The Food and Financial Crises and Their Effects in Sub-Saharan Africa—Introduction and Overview
  David R. Lee, Julia Berazneva, and Muna Ndulo. In The Food and Financial Crises in Sub-Saharan Africa: Origins, Impacts and Policy, ed. David R. Lee and Muna Ndulo. CABI, Wallingford, Oxfordshire and Cambridge, MA, 2011.
• Transforming Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs
  Janice Brodman and Julia Berazneva. Information Technologies & International Development 4(2): 3–10, 2007.