Working Papers
The Passenger Vessel Services Act and America’s Cruise Tourism Industry working paper
The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA), a 123-year old cabotage law, attempts to shield U.S. maritime shipping from foreign competition. It also applies to the U.S. cruise ship industry. The PVSA requires foreign cruise ships that carry passengers between U.S. ports to also stop at foreign ports. Norwegian Cruise Line America (NCLA), which operates one […]
Read MoreTaxing Timeshare Occupancy
In this paper, we evaluate the manner in which timeshare occupancy is taxed in the State of Hawaii. Our objective is to ascertain how best to design a timeshare occupancy tax that treats all types of visitor accommodations equitably and enhances tourism’s net economic benefit to Hawaii’s residents. In particular, we address two concerns. First, […]
Read MoreInvasive Species Control over Space and Time: Miconia calvescens on Oahu, Hawaii
We use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to map the current and future populations of an invasive species, Miconia calvescens, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and the potential damages to water quantity, water quality, endangered bird habitat, and native habitat housing endangered plants, snails, and insects. We develop a control cost function that includes locating and […]
Read MoreEconomic Impacts of E. Coqui frogs in Hawaii
Hawaii’s geographical isolation has resulted in the development of unique and fragile ecosystems in which the arrival of a new species may create dramatic changes in the ecology, and now the economy, of the islands. Successful establishment rates for new species before the arrival of humans in the early 1st millennium AD may have been […]
Read MoreIntroductions of Invasive Species: Failure of the Weaker Link
The prevention of invasive species is modeled as a “weaker link” public good. Under the weaker link aggregation technology, individual contributions beyond the lowest level will still provide benefits, but progressively these benefits decline as contributions exceed the minimum. A two-region model is constructed, assuming incomplete information concerning costs of provision. We compare the results […]
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 MoreResource management for Sustainable Development of Island Economies
What is the role of resource management in sustaining competitiveness for island economies such as the Republic of the Philippines and Hawaii? We review the history of thought on sustainable resource management and sustainable development and then turn to the threats to sustainability from the resource curse and the parallel curse of paradise. We show how the resource curse […]
Read MoreFinancial Integration in the Pacific Basin Region: RIP by PANIC Attack?
We exploit advances in panel data econometrics to test whether real interest parity holds in the Pacific Basin region. We test for a unit root in the difference between either the US, Japanese or Euro area real interest rate and the real interest rates from a panel of eleven Pacific Basin economies. Unlike extant studies […]
Read MoreJapanese Investment in Hawaii: Past and Future
The volume of Japanese direct investments in Hawaii surged during the late 1980s. This corresponds to the rapid expansion of Japanese overseas investment in general with the sharp rise of the yen value vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar after the 1985 Plaza Accord. Between 1985 and 1995, Japanese invested no less than $12 billion in Hawaii […]
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