Simanti Banerjee

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Simanti Banerjee

Professor Agricultural Economics University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
314 Filley Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0922
Email
simanti.banerjee@unl.edu
Website

Google Scholar
Research Gate
Curriculum Vitae

About Me

I joined the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in August 2014. Previously I was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at Oberlin College in Ohio (2013-14) and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Stirling in Scotland UK (2010-13). I received a Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University (2010). 

My research deals with analyzing coordination within groups, inter-personal bargaining, and the impact of information, communication and social networks on human decision making in a variety of contexts. Using experimental and behavioral economic methods, and surveys I study performance of various farmland conservation policies, drivers of technology adoption, and decision making under risk & uncertainty. My lab and field research program has been funded by grants from the USDA and NSF. I am also interested in qualitative data analysis techniques and incorporate these into my quantitative work for a richer analysis of the world around me. 

I teach Environmental & Natural Resource Economics (AECN-NREE 265) at the undergraduate level and Behavioral & Experimental Economics (AECN 818) with Christopher Gustafson at the graduate level. My instruction has benefited from teaching experiences in three different institutes in two different countries. I have set up the Behavioral and Experimental Economics Lab (BEEL) at UNL. If a UNL student is interested in participating in an economic experiment, they can register here or contact me.

I come from Eastern India. I am mother to a twin boy and girl (born August 2019). My husband and I love to travel and look forward to traveling the world as a family and taking loads of pictures and buying many many fridge magnets!

Research Interests

Experimental & Behavioral Economics, Ecosystem Services Conservation & Management, Communication, Social Network & Game Theory, Decision Making under Risk

Selected Peer Reviewed Publications

Peer Reviewed Articles

1.    Stamatina Kotsakou, Cory Walters, Simanti Banerjee, and Karina Schoengold. Safety-First? A Context-Rich Experimental Study of the Role of Safety-First Risk Preferences in a Post-Harvest Grain Marketing Setting. Agricultural Finance Review. Forthcoming.

2.    Charalampos Mavroutsikos, Karina Schoengold, Emie Yiannaka, Simanti Banerjee, Konstantinos Giannakas and Tala Awada. The Role of Spatially Varying Descriptive Norms on Public Valuation of Ecosystem Services Associated with Improved Soil Health: A Discrete Choice Experiment on Nudging. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Volume 50, Issue 3, September 2025.

3.    Hannah Legatzke, Brian C. Chaffin, Theresa M. Floyd, Simanti Banerjee, Sarah Church, Sabrina Gulab, Samantha Hamlin, Gwendwr R. Meredith, Alexander L. Metcalf, Holly K. Nesbitt, Emily Rowenf, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen.  2025. Governance of a landscape: The role of formal and informal organizations. Journal of Environmental Management. Volume 380, 124974.

4.    Timothy Meyer, Lia Nogueira, Kathleen Brooks, Fabio Mattos, and Simanti Banerjee.  Exploring the Implementation of non-explicit Grading. Applied Economics Teaching Resources. First Published Online: June 25, 2025

5.    Timothy Pape, Gwendŵr Meredith, David Sandahl, Md Faizul Kabir, Simanti Banerjee, Craig Allen, Elliott Dennis, Mitchell Stephenson. Actor-network analysis of partners facilitating regenerative ranching practices in the U.S. Northern Great Plains. Rangelands. Online February 22, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rala.2025.01.003

6.    Hanin Hosni, Christopher Gustafson and Simanti Banerjee. 2025 The Impact of Health and Environmental Information on Consumer Valuation of Portion Sizes: Evidence from an Experimental Auction. 2025. Food Quality and Preference. Volume 127, June 2025, 105430.

7.    Timothy Pape, Gwendŵr Meredith, David Sandahl, Md Faizul Kabir, Simanti Banerjee, Craig Allen, Elliott Dennis, Mitchell Stephenson. 2024. Understanding the values that inform regenerative ranching in the Northern U.S. Great Plains. Agriculture and Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-024-10649-1

8.    Holly Nesbitt, Alex Metcalf, Theresa Floyd, Daniel Uden, Brian Chaffin, Sabrina Gulab, Simanti Banerjee, Sechindra Vallury, Samantha Hamlin, Elizabeth Metcalf, Dillon Fogarty, Dirac Twidwell and Craig Allen. 2024. Social networks and transformative behaviors in a grassland social-ecological system. People and Nature. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10695  

9.    Zhaoyang Liu, Simanti Banerjee, Timothy N. Cason, Andreas Kontoleon, Jintao Xu, and Nick Hanley. 2024. Spatially Coordinated Conservation Auctions: A Framed Field Experiment Focusing on Farmland Wildlife Conservation in China. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Volume 106(4), pp. 1354-1379. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12447

10.    Leah H. Palm-Forster, Mykel Taylor, Simanti Banerjee and Lusi Xie. 2023. Factors Influencing Enrollment of Leased Cropland in the Conservation Stewardship Program in Kansas. Land Use Policy. Volume 135.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106956

11.    Sergei Schaub, Jaboury Ghazoul, Robert Huber, Wei Zhange, Adelaide Sander, Charles Rees, Anne Dray, Simanti Banerjee and Robert Finger. 2023. The Role of Opportunity Costs And Behavioral Factors In Farmers' Adoption Of Voluntary Agri-Environmental Schemes: A Systematic Review. Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 74(3), pp. 617-660.

12.    Banerjee, Simanti. 2022. Use of Experimental Economics in Policy Design and Evaluation: An Application to Water Resources and other Environmental Domains. In H. Shugart (Ed.), The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.764

13.    Chelsea Arnold, Jisang Yu, Mykel Taylor, Leah Palm-Forster, and Simanti Banerjee. 2022. The Role of Risk in Farmland Contract Choices. Journal or Agricultural and Resource Economics. Volume 48(2), pp. 398-411. doi: 10.22004/ag.econ.320681

14.    Sechindra Vallury, Ada Smith, Brian C. Chaffin, Holly Nesbitt, Sapana Lohani, Sabrina Gulab, Simanti Banerjee, Theresa Floyd, Alex Metcalf, Elizabeth Metcalf, Dirac Twidwell, Daniel Uden, Matthew Williamson, and Craig R. Allen. 2022. Adaptive Capacity Beyond the Household: A Systematic Review Of Empirical Social-Ecological Research. Environmental Research Letters, Volume 17(6).

15.    Hilsenroth Jana, Anna Josephson, Kelly A. Grogan, Lurleen M. Walters, Zoë T. Plakias, Leah H. Palm-Forster, Simanti Banerjee, and Tara Wade. 2021. Past, Present, and Future: Status of Women and Minority Faculty in Agricultural and Applied Economics. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Volume 44(1), pp. 71-91.

16.    Banerjee Simanti, Timothy N. Cason, Frans P. deVries, and Nick Hanley. 2021. Impact of different spatial bonus payments on conservation auction performance, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Volume 8(5), pp. 1013-1049.

17.    Streletskaya Nadia A., Samuel D. Bell, Maik Kecinski, Tongzhe Li, Simanti Banerjee, Leah H. Palm-Forster, and David Pannell. 2019. Agriculture Adoption and Behavioral Economics: Bridging the Gap. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. Volume 42(1), pp. 54-66.

18.    Czap Natalia, Hans Czap, Simanti Banerjee, and Mark Burbach. 2019. Encouraging Farmers’ Participation in the Conservation Stewardship Program: A Field Experiment. Ecological Economics, Volume 161, pp. 130-143

19.    Secchi Silvia, and Simanti Banerjee. 2019. A Dynamic Semester-Long Social Dilemma Game for Economic and Inter-Disciplinary Courses. Journal of Economic Education, Volume 50(1), pp. 70-85.

20.    Kotsakou Stamatina, Cory Walters, Jessica Groskopf, Robert Tigner, and Simanti Banerjee.  2018. A Unique Marketing Educational Tool: Marketing in a New Era Simulation Game. Journal of Extension. Volume 56(6), Article # 6TOT4.

21.    Banerjee Simanti and Marc Conte. 2018. Information Access, Conservation Practice Choice, and Rent Seeking in Conservation Procurement Auctions: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Volume 100(5), pp. 1407-1426

22.    Banerjee Simanti. Improving Spatial Coordination Rates under the Agglomeration Bonus Scheme: A Laboratory Experiment with a Pecuniary and a Non-Pecuniary Mechanism. 2017 American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Volume 100(1), pp. 172-197

23.    Banerjee Simanti, Timothy N. Cason, Frans P de Vries, and Nick Hanley. 2017. Transaction Costs, Communication and Spatial Coordination in Payment for Ecosystem Services Schemes, Journal of Environmental Economics & Management, Volume 83, pp. 68-89

24.    Banerjee Simanti, Anthony M. Kwasnica, and James S. Shortle. 2015. Information & auction performance: A laboratory study of conservation auctions for spatially contiguous land management, Environmental & Resource Economics, Volume 61(3), pp. 409-431

25.    Banerjee Simanti, Frans P de Vries, Nick Hanley, and Daan van Soest. 2014. The impact of information provision on Agglomeration Bonus performance: An experimental study on local networks, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 96(4), pp. 1009 – 1029

26.    Banerjee Simanti, Silvia Secchi, Joseph Fargione, Stephen Polasky, and Steven Kraft. 2013. How to sell ecosystem services: a guide for designing new markets. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment Volume 11, pp. 297 – 304

27.    Hanley Nick, Simanti Banerjee, Gareth D. Lennox, and Paul R. Armsworth. 2013. How should we incentivize private landowners to "produce" more biodiversity? Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Volume 28(1), pp. 93 – 113

28.    Banerjee Simanti, Anthony M. Kwasnica, and James S. Shortle. 2012. Agglomeration Bonus in Small and Large Local Networks: A Laboratory Examination of Spatial Coordination. Ecological Economics, Volume 84, pp. 142 – 152 

Network of Collaborators (Past and Present)

Maria Bernedo Del Carpio, Mark Burbach, Tim Cason, Marc Conte, Hans Czap, Natalia Czap, Frans P. deVries, Paul Ferraro, Nick Hanley, Tony Kwasnica, Ursula Kreitmair, Kent Messer, Silvia Secchi, James Shortle, Mykel R. Taylor, Leah H. Palm-Forster, James M. Walker, Cory Walters, Collin Weigel

Banerjee Lab Students  

Current Students (Degree):

Abdelmalek Hammami (PhD), Hanin Hosny (PhD), Diya Ganguly (PhD), Brooks Ronspies (MS)

Past Students (Degree): 

Stamatina (Tina) Kotsakou (MS), Nadeeka Weerasekara (MS)