Ecosystem Services
Efficient Management of Coastal Marine Nutrient Loads with Multiple Sources of Abatement Instruments
Pollution management based on marginal abatement costs is optimal only if those abatement costs are specified correctly. Using the example of nitrogen pollution in groundwater, we show that the marginal abatement cost function for any given pollution source can be directly derived from a social-welfare maximization problem, wherein controls include both abatement instruments and inputs […]
Read MorePublication: Optimal Management of a Hawaiian Coastal Aquifer with Nearshore Marine Ecological Interactions
We optimize groundwater management in the presence of marine consequences of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). Concern for marine biota increases the optimal steady-state head level of the aquifer. The model is discussed in general terms for any coastal groundwater resource where SGD has a positive impact on valuable nearshore resources. Our application focuses on the […]
Read MoreOptimal Provision and Finance of Ecosystem Services: the Case of Watershed Conservation and Groundwater Management
Payments for ecosystem services should be informed by how both the providing-resource and the downstream resource are managed. We develop an integrated model that jointly optimizes conservation investment in a watershed that recharges a downstream aquifer and groundwater extraction from the aquifer. Volumetric user-fees to finance watershed investment induce inefficient water use, inasmuch as conservation […]
Read MoreRenewable resource management with stock externalities: Coastal aquifers and submarine groundwater discharge
This paper develops a hydrologic-ecologic-economic model of groundwater use. Particularly, we model coastal groundwater management and its effects on submarine groundwater discharge, nearshore marine water quality, and marine biota. We show that incorporating the external effects on nearshore resources increases the optimal sustainable steady-state head level. Numerical simulations are illustrated using data from the Kuki’o […]
Read MoreEconomic lessons from control efforts for an invasive species: Miconia calvescens in Hawaii
Once established, invasive species can rapidly and irreversibly alter ecosystems and degrade the value of ecosystem services. Optimal control of an unwanted species solves for a trajectory of removals that minimizes the present value of removal costs and residual damages from the remaining population. The shrubby tree, Miconia calvescens, is used to illustrate dynamic policy […]
Read MoreEfficient Water Allocation with Win-Win Conservation Surcharges: The Case of the Ko‘olau Watershed
The one-demand Hotelling model fails to explain the observed specialization of non-renewable resources. We develop a model with multiple demands and resources to show that specialization of resources according to demand is driven by Ricardian comparative advantage while the order of resource use over time is determined by Ricardian absolute advantage. An abundant resource with […]
Read MoreValuing Indirect Ecosystem Services: the Case of Tropical Watersheds
Mitigating the harmful effects of development projects and industries (negative environmentalism) is inadequate, especially in resource-dependent economies whose resources are at risk from other forces. While positive environmentalism includes conservation projects, the non-market benefits of such projects are difficult to evaluate. This paper provides and illustrates a method for evaluating the indirect, watershed benefits of […]
Read MoreMitigating Runoff As Part of an Integrated Strategy for Nearshore Resource Conservation
This report first presents theoretical considerations for integrated resource management of forested watershed and nearshore resources, then estimates current economic benefits from nearshore resources (beaches and reef) as well as expected economic benefits, in the form of preserved nearshore resource benefits, from conservation of forest resources.
Read MoreEnvironmental Valuation and the Hawaiian Economy
Economic planning and policy analysis are commonly criticized for their failure to properly account for adverse effects of economic development on the environment and other interactions between nature and the market economy. The limited and piecemeal curbs on land development projects, e.g. as provided by environmental impact requirements, fail to diagnose the major negative impacts […]
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