The following is a collection of very recent papers (search year 1998). I will attempt to update these
lists annually.
This inventory is intended for students in UCLA's graduate sequence in
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. The most recent update took
place on January 1, 1999. CAUTION: while I try to ensure that updates overlap, I have discovered that my
process occasionally misses a paper or yields duplicates. If your relevant published paper is not
included, please let me know.
Barbier, Edward B.; Strand, Ivar, "Valuing Mangrove-Fishery Linkages: A
Case Study of Campeche, Mexico," Environmental and Resource
Economics; 12(2), September 1998, pages 151-66.
Abstract: This paper explores the value of mangrove systems
as a breeding and nursery habitat for off-shore fisheries, focusing on
mangrove-shrimp production linkages in Campeche State, Mexico. We
develop an open access fishery model to account explicitly for the
effect of mangrove area on carrying capacity and thus production. From
the long-run equilibrium conditions of the model we are able to
establish the key parameters determining the comparative static effects
of a change in mangrove area on this equilibrium. We then estimate
empirically the effects of changes in mangrove area in the Laguna de
Terminos on the production and value of shrimp harvests in Campeche
over 1980-90. Our findings suggest that mangroves are an important and
essential input into the Campeche shrimp fishery, but that the low
levels of deforestation between 1980 and 1990 mean that the resulting
losses to the shrimp fishery are still comparatively small.
Over-exploitation of the fishery due to open access conditions remains
the more pervasive threat, and without better management any long-run
benefits of protecting mangrove habitat are likely to be
dissipated.
Toufique, Kazi Ali, "Institutions and Externalities in the Inland
Fisheries of Bangladesh," Land Economics; 74(3), August 1998, pages
409-21.
Abstract: Establishment of property rights over inland
fisheries of Bangladesh has been able to internalize appropriation
externalities. However, the agents have failed to internalize
provision problems due to the physical characteristics of the resource
systems. The author has observed that the rules traditionally followed
by the fishers are maintained and preserved by agents having exclusive
property rights over the resource systems. The relationship between the
agents and the fishers is not anonymous but of a patron-client type.
Such outcome does not follow from the analysis of those who think that
private property rights are the only solution to common-pool
problems.
Whitmarsh, David J., "The Fisheries Treadmill," Land Economics;
74(3), August 1998, pages 422-27.
Korber, Achim, "Why Everybody Loves Flipper: The Political-Economy of the
U.S. Dolphin-Safe Laws," European Journal of Political Economy;
14(3), August 1998, pages 475-509.
Abstract: The tuna-dolphin case has been a focal point in
the interface between international trade policy and environmental
protection. This paper presents an endogenous-policy case study of the
change in U.S. dolphin-safe legislation from 1988-1990. The new rules
regarding concern for the safety of dolphins gave rise to a
controversial embargo against Mexican tuna which was challenged twice
in the GATT. The reversal by the U.S. tuna canneries of their position
on dolphin-safe tuna fishing could at face value be interpreted as a
victory of the pro-environmentalist movement over a billion dollar
industry. A detailed investigation reveals, however, private gain by
the tuna-processing firms dominant in the U.S. market from support of
the pro-environmental policy position. The new environmental
legislation was the background for re-instating an embargo on imports
from Mexico, and for raising costs of smaller domestic competitors,
while at the same time the dominant firms in the U.S. market had
themselves lost interest in the Eastern Pacific Ocean as a source of
raw tuna.
Ruseski, Gorazd, "International Fish Wars: The Strategic Roles for Fleet
Licensing and Effort Subsidies," Journal of Environmental Economics and
Management; 36(1), July 1998, pages 70-88.
Abstract: This article examines the problem of
noncooperative international fishing by analyzing the strategic
rent-shifting roles for such well-known national management policies as
fleet licensing and effort subsidies. It is shown that the
noncooperative equilibrium in each policy takes the form of a
prisoner's dilemma with dissipated rents in the fishery. It is also
shown that strategic effort subsidies can only lead to incomplete rent
dissipation but strategic fleet licensing can lead to complete rent
dissipation. The models developed in this article may help to provide
an explanation for the persistence of large and excessively subsidized
national fleets that exploit depleted international fish stocks. (c)
1998 Academic Press
Grafton, R. Quentin; Lane, Daniel E., "Canadian Fisheries Policy:
Challenges and Choices," Canadian Public Policy; 24(2), June 1998,
pages 133-47.
Abstract: Canada faces grave challenges in its ocean
fisheries. The problems include the collapse of Atlantic groundfish
stocks in the early 1990s, international disputes over shared and
straddling fisheries, conflicts among competing fishers, and low
incomes and overcapitalization In many important fisheries. We assess
the present state of Canada's ocean fisheries, evaluate past and
current management to address the problems and propose policies to help
Canada realize the full potential from its marine resources.
Bulte, Erwin; Folmer, Henk; Heijman, Wim, "Dynamic and Static Approaches
to Mixed Good Management: The Case of Minke Whales in the Northeast
Atlantic," European Review of Agricultural Economics; 25(1), 1998,
pages 73-91.
Abstract: Whales have private and public good
characteristics. A dynamic model, developed to capture the complexities
of managing such a resource, yields optimal steady-state estimates
suggesting that the current stock of minke whales in the Northeast
Atlantic is below the steady-state optimum. The dynamics of the optimal
approach to the steady state are consistent with drastic measures such
as the current moratorium on commercial whaling. These findings are not
consistent with previous research in this field. The discrepancies
should be attributed to the inclusion of non-use values in the present
paper. Finally, we compare the outcomes of the dynamic model with the
results of a simple static model. We find that the latter consistently
errs on the side of excessive exploitation because of its failure to
account for the impact of current harvesting on future benefits and
costs.
Milazzo, Matteo, "Subsidies in world fisheries: A reexamination,"
Technical Paper, no. 406. Fisheries Series. Washington, D.C.: World Bank,
1998, pages ix, 86.
Abstract: Assesses the implications and impacts of
subsidies in the fisheries sector. Explores the degree to which
environmentally harmful subsidies are contributing to the ongoing
erosion of the world's fish stocks. Examines fisheries-sector subsides
that are identifiable in government budgets, focusing on domestic
assistance to the fisheries sector in Japan, the European Union,
Norway, the United States, Russia, and China. Assesses subsidies
provided to fishing operations in the waters of other coastal states.
Considers subsidies not reflected in the fisheries agency budget, such
as subsidized lending and tax preferences. Examines aids to
shipbuilding; aids to fisheries infrastructure; resource rent
subsidies; and vessel buyback programs aimed at conservation. Assesses
the aggregate level of subsidies in world fisheries. Milazzo is a
fishery economist at the National Marine Fisheries Service. Selected
bibliography; no index.
Eggert, Hakan, "Bioeconomic Analysis and Management: The Case of
Fisheries," Environmental and Resource Economics; 11(3-4),
April-June 1998, pages 399-411.
Abstract: This article discusses bioeconomic analysis and
different management strategies in fisheries. It reviews recent
developments, which show the need to expand the analysis to
multispecies fisheries and management. Significant gains can be made
if the interdependencies between species and/or jointness in inputs for
many fisheries are identified. Both common property resource management
and individual transferable quotas (ITQs) can be fruitful strategies in
different settings. The article suggests that there is scope for the
development of a multiple use management approach of marine resources.
Besides the aim of an efficient use of fish stocks, equal attention
should be given to other values from aquatic ecosystems, like
ecological services, biodiversity and recreation possibilities.
Willis, David B. et al., "The Effects of Water Rights and Irrigation
Technology on Streamflow Augmentation Cost in the Snake River Basin,"
Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics; 23(1), July 1998,
pages 225-43.
Abstract: Three species of salmon in the Snake River Basin
have been listed as endangered. Recovery efforts for these fish include
attempts to obtain increased quantities of water during smelt migration
periods to improve habitat in the lower basin. Agriculture is the
dominant user of surface flows in this region. This study investigates
farmer cost of a contingent water contract requiring the agricultural
release of stored irrigation supplies in low flow years during critical
flow periods. Results show that contingent contracts can provide
substantial quantities of water at a relatively modest cost without
significantly affecting the agricultural base of the area.
Garza Gil, M. Dolores, "ITQ Systems in Multifleet Fisheries: An
Application for Iberoatlantic Hake," Environmental and Resource
Economics; 11(1), January 1998, pages 79-92.
Abstract: Optimum management of a particular fishery is
analyzed based on an ITQ system. For this purpose, a multifleet
deterministic bioeconomic model is developed and applied. Using data
on the fishery studied here, estimates are made of the stock dynamics
of fish and the technology used by the fleets operating in said
fishery. Optimum levels of stock, effort and catch are determined.
Finally, we present economic policy recommendations for this fishery
and considerations for applying regulatory measures.
Devlin, Rose Anne; Grafton, R. Quentin, Economic rights and
environmental wrongs: Property rights for the common good,Cheltenham,
U.K. and Northampton, Mass.: Elgar; distributed by American International
Distribution Corporation, Williston, Vt., 1998, pages xii, 189.
Abstract: Presents the property-right perspective as a
simple but powerful framework for understanding the causes of
environmental challenges and for analyzing what can be done to address
them. Examines current environmental challenges. Discusses
externalities and the underlying causes of pollution. Demonstrates how
private property rights, if appropriately applied, can mitigate the
problems of pollution and environmental degradation. Provides a
structure for understanding property rights and examines how they can
be used to help overcome many natural resource problems, including
tropical deforestation, overexploitation of fisheries, and species
extinction. Discusses other important means of encouraging the
reduction of pollution in addition to the use of property rights:
standards, taxes, legal liability, and international agreements.
Includes a list of World Wide Web sites on the environment. Devlin and
Grafton are Associate Professors of Economics at the University of
Ottawa. Glossary; index.
Kirkley, James; Squires, Dale; Strand, Ivar E., "Characterizing
Managerial Skill and Technical Efficiency in a Fishery," Journal of
Productivity Analysis; 9(2), March 1998, pages 145-60.
Abstract: Researchers have long recognized that
entrepreneurial or managerial skill is a major determinant of
productivity or reason why production among firms varies. Yet, except
for a few studies, differences in productivity and output levels are
usually attributed to plant configuration or scale. More important,
there appears to have been few attempts to relate technical efficiency
to managerial skill. Utilizing a stochastic production frontier, we
examine the relationship between technical efficiency and
characteristics of skill such as experience and education in a fishery.
Although we cannot determine threshold or essential levels of
experience and education, substitution possibilities are found to exist
between years of experience and education levels. Additional analysis
of efficiency for two captains of the same background and experience
reveals that additional characteristics need to be considered in the
examination of skipper skill or the "good-captain" hypothesis.
Pascoe, Sean; Robinson, Catherine, "Input Controls, Input Substitution
and Profit Maximisation in the English Channel Beam Trawl Fishery,"
Journal of Agricultural Economics; 49(1), January 1998, pages 16-33.
Abstract: Studies of input substitution in fisheries have
tended to focus on substitution between physical inputs and/or time
fished. However, input controls may create incentives for substitution
of other inputs into the production process. For example, fishers faced
with constraints on access to particular areas of the fishery may
substitute physical inputs for fishing location. This was the case with
the UK beam trawl fishery in the English Channel. Constraints were
imposed on access to particular areas of the fishery through
restrictions on engine power. This created incentives for a number of
fishers to reduce their engine power to meet the conditions of the
input control. The relative contribution of the boat inputs and
location in the production process and the potential for substitution
were examined using a translog production function. The results
suggested that the apparent input substitution was consistent with
profit maximising behaviour.
Wilen, James E.; Homans, Frances R., "What Do Regulators Do? Dynamic
Behavior of Resource Managers in the North Pacific Halibut Fishery
1935-1978," Ecological Economics; 24(2-3), Feb.-March 1998, pages
289-98.
Last updated: January 19,1998
e-mail: tcameron@econ.ucla.edu