Former Team Members
Dr. Sonia Akter
Division of Social Sciences
Department of Economics
Working Group Social-science Water Research
Helmholtz Centre
for Environmental Research − UFZ
Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig, Germany
Research Interests
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures
- Stated preference technique for environmental valuation
- Risk and uncertainty
Employment History
2011 - 2013
Senior Researcher, Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
2010 - 2011
Research Fellow, Crawford School of Economics and Government, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
2007 - 2010
Doctoral Student, Crawford School of Economics and Government, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
2003 - 2006
Lecturer, Department of Economics, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2002 - 2003
Masters Student, Department of Economics, York University, Toronto, Canada.
2001 - 2002
Lecturer, Department of Economics, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Current Projects
- “Designing weather index-based, micro-saving insurance products for maize farmers in southern Bangladesh”, funded by Yale Savings and Payments Research Fund.
- “Socio-economic vulnerability to flood risk in informal urban settlements”, funded by the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes.
- “An integrated hydro-ecological and socio-economic model of environmental flow delivery to wetlands”, funded by the Collaboration Research Network grants, University of Canberra.
Publications
Book
- Akter, S., Bennett, J. (2012) Valuing Climate Change Mitigation: Applying Stated Preferences in the Presence of Uncertainty, Edward Elgar.
Articles
- Akter, S., Mallick, B. (2013) ‘The poverty-vulnerability-resilience nexus: Evidence from Bangladesh’, Ecological Economics, 96: 114–124.
PDF: Akter & Mallick 2013 (916.1 KB) - Akter, S., Bennett, J., Ward, M. B. (2012) ‘Climate change scepticism and public support for mitigation: Evidence from an Australian choice experiment’, Global Environmental Change, 22(3): 736–745.
DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.05.004
PDF: Akter_Bennett_Ward_GEC (918.6 KB) - Akter, S. (2012) ‘The role of microinsurance as a safety net against environmental risks in Bangladesh’, Journal of Environment and Development, 21(2): 263-280.
DOI: 10.1177/1070496512442505
PDF: Akter 2012 The role of microinsurance (156.6 KB) - Akter, S., Bennett, J. (2012) ‘Preference uncertainty in stated preference studies: facts and artefacts’, Applied Economics, 45(15): 2107-2115.
DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2012.654914
PDF: Akter_Bennett_AE (181.3 KB) - Akter, S. and Bennett, J. (2011) ‘Household perceptions of climate change and preferences for mitigation action: the case of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in Australia’, Climatic Change, 109(3-4): 417–436.
- Akter, S., Brouwer, R., Beukering, van P., Silver, E., Frech, L., Choudhury, S. and Aziz, S. (2011) ‘Exploring the feasibility of private micro flood-insurance provision in Bangladesh’, Disasters, 35(2): 287-307.
- Grafton, Q., Akter, S. and Kompas, T. (2011) ‘A policy-enabling framework for the ex-ante evaluation of marine protected areas’, Ocean and Coastal Management, 54(6): 478-487.
PDF: Grafton_Akter_Kompas_OCM (194.2 KB) - Akter, S. and Grafton, R. Q. (2010). ‘Confronting uncertainty and missing values in species conservation investment with environmental value transfer,’ Conservation Biology, 24(5): 1407-1417.
- Akter, S., Brouwer, R., Choudhury, S. and Aziz, S. (2009) ‘Is there a commercially viable market for crop insurance in rural Bangladesh?’ Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 14(3): 215-229.
- Akter, S., Brouwer, R., Brander, L. and Beukering, van P. (2009), ‘Respondent uncertainty in a contingent market for carbon offsets’, Ecological Economics, 68(6): 1858-1863.
- Akter, S., Bennett, J. and Akhter, S. (2008) ‘Preference uncertainty in contingent valuation’ Ecological Economics, 67(3): 345-351.
PDF: Akter_Bennett_Akhter_EE (98.7 KB) - Akter, S. (2008) ‘Determinants of willingness to pay for safe drinking water: a case study in Bangladesh’ Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, 5(3): 85-91.
- Brouwer, R., Akter, S., Brander, L and Haque, E., (2007) ‘Socio-economic vulnerability and adaptation to environmental risk: A case study of climate change and flooding in Bangladesh.’ Risk Analysis, 27(2): 313-326.
- Akter, S., Haque, E., and Khan, Z. H. (2006) ‘Adoption of arsenic safe drinking water practice in rural Bangladesh: an examination of the averting behavior approach.’ Journal of Bangladesh Studies, 8(1): 48-59.