Environmental Economics

Free Webinar: Valuing Environmental Catastrophes (with an impressive lineup of experts if I do say so myself!)

Feel free to promote far and wide. Intended for a non-expert audience (my goal is to get a spot in the sequel to this blockbuster).

If you don't like QR codes, you can register here.

 

 

 

 

Env-Econ Book Review: The Fishermen and the Dragon

I just finished reading Kirk Wallace Johnson's The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast. Here's my book review (from the view of an Environmental Economist of course).

The Fishermen and the Dragon tells the true story of the evolution of the Texas Gulf Coast crab and shrimp fisheries in the post-Vietnam era. The era is important to the story because tension builds along the Texas coast when post-war Vietnamese refugees locate to the Gulf Coast creating economic competition and (racial) tension between the existing anglers and the refugees. The racial tensions play out against the backdrop of the encroachment of the Ku Klux Klan into post-war political asylum issues and the the environmental problems that come along with rapid industrialization of the Gulf Coast. 

So why would an environmental economist care? Honestly the story has a bit of everything: Tragedy of the commons, Coasian bargaining, Ostrom-like institutional building, credible (and incredible) threats, industrial organization, the role of government in regulating the commons, natural resource damages (oil spills), environmental and health externalities, social and environmental justice. 

Part Erin Brokovich (an initially reluctant environmental crusader), part John Grisham-like southern legal thriller tinged with undertones of racism, part Pat Conroy-like description of the hardships of coastal life, this true story reads like a popular fiction thriller.

If I have one complaint, it would be that there is a slight disjoint between the story of race tensions between the refugees and local fishers, and the story of corporate greed and environmental disaster. There is overlap in the main characters, but stories seem to be separated in both time and presentation.

Nevertheless, a good read with Env-Econ lessons abound. 

I give it a solid four out of five beers raised.

 

Call for papers extended to May 3: Special Issue on "Coastal Resources Economics and Ecosystem Valuation" in the journal Water

Update from Wally Milon (March 7, 2019): 

We have extended the deadline for the special issue of Water on Coastal Resource Economics and Ecosystem Valuation to May 3, 2019. We currently have several manuscripts under review and would welcome your submission prior to the deadline. If you are planning to submit, please let me know if you have any questions. The ‘Instructions for Authors’ on the webpage link below provides further information. Thank you.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/water/special_issues/Coastal_economics_ecosystem

From the guest editors (July 26, 2018):

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal areas around the world are dynamic environments at the interface of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater systems. Nearly 40% of the world’s people already live in these areas, yet coastal zones are increasingly attractive for development and tourism, and are vulnerable to a variety of impacts from land use, water management, nutrients, invasive species, extreme weather, sea level rise and oil spills, among others.

This Special Issue will focus on original research into the application of economic valuation methods to understand and measure the contribution of coastal resources and ecosystems to human well-being. These resources include, but are not limited to: estuaries, beaches, wetlands, shores, mangroves, seagrasses and salt marsh, coral reefs, and essential fish habitat. Valuation methods include the full range of methods: stated and revealed preference, hedonic pricing, bioeconomic models, and habitat equivalency analysis.

The goal is to provide meaningful information for policymakers and resource managers about the economic significance of coastal resources for planning and restoration. We welcome papers from researchers around the world to provide a broad international perspective on new developments in this area.

Prof. J. Walter Milon
Prof. Sergio Alvarez
Guest Editors

Here is the link: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/water/special_issues/Coastal_economics_ecosystem

 

Marine Resource Economics has published an unpublished paper off the reading list of "Wilen’s resource economics course at UC Davis" (fn 3)

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Three of Professor Wilen's students (including current and former editors of MRE) introduce the paper like this:

Throughout his career, James E. (Jim) Wilen has had a remarkable influence on the development of resource and fisheries economics through his path-breaking research contributions, influence on fisheries policy, and outstanding legacy as a mentor. “Common Property Resources and the Dynamics of Overexploitation: The Case of the North Pacific Fur Seal” was one of Jim’s earliest research endeavors as a young assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. Yet, it reflects many of the essential themes found in so much of his subsequent work. In publishing this paper in Marine Resource Economics, we hope to not only make it more accessible to a whole new generation of resource economists, but also to examine the impact of this unpublished mimeograph on the subsequent development of resource and fisheries economics. ...

Indeed, to our knowledge, Jim’s paper was the first paper to econometrically model both the economic and resource dynamics for a single resource.

This is the second time, to my knowledge, that MRE has made an effort to publish an unpublished paper (here is the first). This is quite remarkable and deserving of a pat on the back. 

Fish are friends?

One thing world leaders agree on? Fish are the lowest priority on the United Nations Sustainability Goals.

 

 

Call for Papers | Marine Resource Economics | Special Issue on Attribute Non-Attendance

Call for Papers

Marine Resource Economics

Special Issue on Attribute Non-Attendance in Choice Experiments of Marine Ecosystem Goods and Services

 

Special Issue Editors:  Daniel K. Lew and John C. Whitehead

 

Stated preference discrete choice experiments (DCE) are increasingly being used by researchers seeking to understand consumer preferences and values in environmental economics, transportation, health, and marketing.  An active DCE research area relates to behaviors that break from the assumptions of fully compensatory behavior assumed in standard discrete choice models.  This has led to research on ways of incorporating heuristics and cognitive processes in models of DCE response behavior.  In particular, considerable attention in recent years has been on attribute non-attendance (AN-A)--a type of choice behavior where individuals ignore one or more attributes in the DCE question.

 

Marine Resource Economics is soliciting contributions for a special issue on the topic of AN-A in choice experiments of marine ecosystem goods and services in Volume 34 (2019).  We welcome submissions that are empirical, theoretical, or both and advance our understanding of AN-A as it is applied to marine ecosystem goods and services (marine habitats, coastal ecosystem services, recreational activities, threatened and endangered species, etc.).

 

The special issue editors request five types of papers:

• Comparison studies: There are numerous ways for accounting for AN-A behavior in the literature and that generally can be classified as either stated or inferred approaches.  Studies comparing AN-A approaches (stated versus inferred, alternative inferred approaches, joint versus separate, etc.) are welcome.
• Case studies: There have been a number of AN-A articles published in the areas of agriculture, environment, health, and transportation. The editors seek case studies focused on marine ecosystem goods and services.
• Replications: There have been a number of stated preference articles addressing marine ecosystem goods and services over the years. The editors seek re-examinations of these older, published studies with AN-A methods.
• Policy studies: How does AN-A affect benefit-cost, resource allocation, natural resource damage assessment, or other types of policy? AN-A may alter willingness to pay estimates. When there is AN-A on the cost coefficient, willingness to pay is biased upwards. When there is AN-A on an attribute coefficient, willingness to pay is biased downward. Should AN-A willingness to pay estimates be used as base case estimates or as alternatives in sensitivity analysis? Meta-analyses and benefit transfer studies are also welcome.
• Exploratory studies:  Studies exploring the theoretical and empirical bases of AN-A behavior and factors affecting it are also encouraged.

If interested, please send an abstract to the special issue guest editors (Dan Lew, [email protected]; John Whitehead, [email protected]) by May 25, 2018, for preliminary review.  Selected abstract authors will be asked to submit papers for the special issue through the Journal’s website (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/mre/current) by September 30, 2018.  All submissions are subject to the Journal’s standard review process. 

New article in Marine Resource Economics: "Estimating Lost Recreational Use Values of Visitors to Northwest Florida due to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Using Cancelled Trip Data"

Authors: John C. Whitehead, Tim Haab, Sherry L. Larkin, John B. Loomis, Sergio Alvarez, Andrew Ropick

Abstract: The lost recreational use values from the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico were estimated from cancelled recreational trips to Northwest Florida. The impacts were calculated using the travel cost method for a single site with primary data collected from an online survey conducted after the spill. The data were collected in August and September 2011 with respondents residing in 13 US states that constitute the primary domestic market for coastal tourism to Northwest Florida. The survey gathered information from respondents on their recreational visits, including detailed information on their past trips and the number of trips cancelled to the study region due to the oil spill. The empirical analysis involves the estimation of a random parameter negative binomial count data demand model. Using this model we find significant preference heterogeneity surrounding the effects of the oil spill. Aggregate damages are estimated to be $207 million.

Key words: BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill, travel cost method, cancelled trips.

JEL Code: Q51

Published online: Mar 21, 2018

Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.1086/697560

 

5 out of 7 continents isn't bad, right?

We're working on PhD recruitment this week (if you applied to OSU AEDE and were accepted, join us, we're FUN!).  I put together a Google map with our PhD placements since 2007.  A bit scary that I might be influencing thinking for this many people and this wide an area.   

 

Cleaning up marine debris is expensive. Leaving it there is expensive too.

Good to know I can still publish (or at least I'm smart enough to team up with talented people who can publish and then attach my name to it):

Christopher G. Leggett, Nora Scherer, Timothy C. Haab, Ryan Bailey, Jason P. Landrum, and Adam Domanski, "Assessing the Economic Benefits of Reductions in Marine Debris at Southern California Beaches: A Random Utility Travel Cost Model," Marine Resource Economics (Published online 2/14/2018: https://doi.org/10.1086/697152)

A random utility maximization (RUM) travel cost model is used to characterize trips to beaches by residents of Orange County, CA. The authors collected on-site measurements of marine debris at 31 beaches in the Orange County area. These data, combined with data on beach trips obtained from a general population survey, were used to estimate a RUM model capable of isolating the impact of marine debris on beach choice. The model is used to estimate the economic benefits associated with several hypothetical reductions in marine debris. The estimated per capita seasonal benefit associated with a 25% reduction in marine debris at all beaches in the choice set is $12.91 (aggregate benefits of $29.5 million in 2013 dollars), while the estimated per capita seasonal benefit associated with a hypothetical improvement potentially associated with the full implementation of the Los Angeles River Trash total maximum daily load (TMDL) is $20.36 (aggregate benefits of $46.5 million).