166 CHAPTER 11


groundwater more efficiently, does not solve the collective-action problem among the farmers who use the same aquifer.


Policy options that address the groundwater problem include (1) the regulation of bore wells, as foreseen in the APWALTA; (2) state ownership of bore wells, as suggested in the report of the Andhra Pradesh Commission on Farmers’ Welfare; and (3) community-based management of groundwater, as promoted, for example, in a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project in Andhra Pradesh. The first option is associated with both the welfare- state-oriented paradigm and the market-oriented paradigm; the second is associated with the welfare-state-oriented paradigm; and the third option is associated with the community-oriented paradigm. State ownership of bore wells, as proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Commission on Farmers’ Welfare, also involves the price mechanism, as the water from state-owned and state- managed bore wells would be sold to farmers on a volumetric basis.


Evaluating Reform Options


Because this report focuses on the political economy of electricity supply to agriculture—a question of positive policy analysis—assessing different policy options from a normative perspective is clearly beyond its scope. We focus here on the political feasibility of different options (see “Assessing the Politi- cal Feasibility of Policy Options”). In this context it is useful to keep in mind that societies have multiple goals: hence policy options need to be assessed according to multiple criteria with a view to identifying trade-offs. As long as there are trade-offs, decisions on the policy options involve value judgments. In keeping with Max Weber’s recommendations for objec- tivity in the social sciences, it is not the role of researchers to make such value judgments. An empirical science cannot tell policymakers what they should do, but rather what they can do (Weber 1977).


Assessing Options According to Multiple Criteria


Various approaches can be used to select the objectives and criteria by which policy options should be assessed. These may be derived from general policy statements or selected in consultation with policymakers and stakeholders. Criteria may refer to broader policy objectives, such as growth, efficiency, equity, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability. They may also refer to practical considerations, such as the transaction costs associated with the implementation of a given option.


Table 11.1 represents an illustration of a tentative assessment of the policy options identified in Figures 11.1–11.3 according to multiple criteria, including fiscal sustainability; the short-term effect on the income of farm- ers in general, and of small and marginalized farmers and farmers who buy


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