Blogs
Are Hawai’i Residents Staying at Home?
By Justin Tyndall and Joshua Hu Staying at home and avoiding crowded spaces is an important way for residents to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Measuring the ability and willingness of Hawai’i’s residents to stay at home is difficult. Having more information on resident movements can help gauge the frequency of in-person interactions and […]
Read MorePre-Travel Testing and Hawaii’s Daily Trans-Pacific Visitors
By James Mak and Carl Bonham The front page headline on Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s October 16 issue read: SOLID REOPENING DAY. Indeed, it was. On October 15, 2020 8,224 trans-Pacific passengers flew into Hawaii compared to an average daily passenger count of only 1,923 passengers the week before. The spike in passenger arrivals is attributed to the start […]
Read MoreCharging Higher User Fees to Tourists at Hawaii’s State Parks
By James Mak “Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono” [1] In May 2000 the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of State Parks began to charge $1 entrance fee per adult—tourist and local—who walked into the park to hike the iconic Diamond Head trail. A $5 entrance fee per […]
Read MoreEstimating economic conditions during the COVID-19 crisis
By Carl Bonham and Peter Fuleky When the long-lived expansion of the past decade was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, many economists turned their attention to new sources of data to track economic conditions. The indicators we have used historically were not timely enough in the quickly changing economic landscape. Take for example gross domestic […]
Read MoreThe August Rental Market: Struggling Tenants and Rising Vacancies
By Philip Garboden Last month, UHERO partnered with real estate groups across the state to launch a monthly survey of Hawaii’s rental property owners and managers. Our primary goal is to understand how the rental market is faring during the extended COVID-19 crisis. Are tenants increasingly struggling to make rent? Are rental property owners seeing […]
Read MoreRooftop solar is now competitive with utility-scale power in Hawaiʻi
By Michael Roberts We need to transition away from fossil fuels quickly, and with inexpensive renewables and batteries, we can do so in a cost effective manner, so long as we employ a sensible plan and the right policies. But what are the tradeoffs involved with how we do it? In most places, rooftop solar […]
Read MoreNowcasting the Trajectory of the COVID-19 Recovery:
The Weekly UHERO Economic Pulse
By Peter Fuleky COVID-19 has brought the longest period of economic expansion in modern history to an abrupt halt. The pace and magnitude of decline in economic activity has been unprecedented, and the recovery ahead will likely be drawn-out and uneven. Making good business and public policy decisions in such a rapidly-changing environment requires data […]
Read MoreHow Many Visitors Are Coming to Hawaii During this Pandemic? Making Sense of Hawaii’s Visitor Arrival Data
By James Mak To curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Hawaii imposed a 14-day travel quarantine requirement for trans-Pacific passengers arriving in Hawaii; the new rule went into effect on March 26. Some visitors are still arriving in Hawaii, apparently in increasing numbers. How many manage to come to Hawaii is unclear to me as […]
Read MoreSurvey results for woman owned businesses
By Philip Garboden and Isabelle Picciotto An update to the original survey results: https://uhero.hawaii.edu/survey-update-shows-widespread-hardship-for-local-businesses/ These tables divide our findings by whether or not the business is 51% or more woman owned. With a few exceptions, the bulk of the evidence suggests that women owned business have been harder hit than those owned by men. As […]
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