MODELING THE EFFECTS OF AREA CLOSURE AND TAX POLICIES: A SPATIAL-TEMPORAL MODEL OF THE HAWAII LONGLINE FISHERY

We develop an economic model for a multi-species fishery that incorporates the spatial and temporal distribution of effort and fish stocks. Catchability coefficients and initial stocks are estimated from catch and effort data for each specific location. Vessels are allocated over space and time to locations of maximum profit, which decline with harvest because of stock externalities. A supply function for labor allocation in the fishery is estimated. The simulated model is applied to the Hawaii longline fishery. The economic impacts of regulatory policies, such as reduction of inshore gear conflict and conservation of offshore turtle populations, are examined.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Estimation of value of travel-time savings using mixed logit models

In this paper, we discuss some of the issues that arise with the computation of the implied value of travel-time savings in the case of discrete choice models allowing for random taste heterogeneity. We specifically look at the case of models producing a non-zero probability of positive travel-time coefficients, and discuss the consistency of such estimates with theories of rational economic behaviour. We then describe how the presence of unobserved travel-experience attributes or conjoint activities can bias the estimation of the travel-time coefficient, and can lead to false conclusions with regards to the existence of negative valuations of travel-time savings. We note that while it is important not to interpret such estimates as travel-time coefficients per se, it is nevertheless similarly important to allow such effects to manifest themselves; as such, the use of distributions with fixed bounds is inappropriate. On the other hand, the use of unbounded distributions can lead to further problems, as their shape (especially in the case of symmetrical distributions) can falsely imply the presence of positive estimates. We note that a preferable solution is to use bounded distributions where the bounds are estimated from the data during model calibration. This allows for the effects of data impurities or model misspecifications to manifest themselves, while reducing the risk of bias as a result of the shape of the distribution. To conclude, a brief application is conducted to support the theoretical claims made in the paper

Methodology for an integrated modelling of macro and microscopic processes in urban transport demand

The paper presents the theoretical formulation and the underlying assumptions for an activity-based approach of transport demand modelling. Starting with the definition of a time hierarchy of decision-making in the urban environment, rules are formulated that dictate the general hierarchic structure of individuals’ choices in the urban system. The temporal scale defines decisions for activities and their daily sequence, the geographical scale decisions associated to destination choice processes. We build activity plans (number and daily sequence of activities) from an empirical data set and calculate trip paths (time-spatial trajectories including transport modes and travel destinations) assuming consumers to maximize their utility in the decision-making process. First results of the translation of the theoretical model into a real-world application are shown for the city of Santiago, Chile

Financial incentives to promote active travel: an evidence review and economic framework

ContextFinancial incentives, including taxes and subsidies, can be used to encourage behavior change. They are common in transport policy for tackling externalities associated with use of motor vehicles, and in public health for influencing alcohol consumption and smoking behaviors. Financial incentives also offer policymakers a compromise between “nudging,” which may be insufficient for changing habitual behavior, and regulations that restrict individual choice.Evidence acquisitionThe literature review identified studies published between January 1997 and January 2012 of financial incentives relating to any mode of travel in which the impact on active travel, physical activity, or obesity levels was reported. It encompassed macroenvironmental schemes, such as gasoline taxes, and microenvironmental schemes, such as employer-subsidized bicycles. Five relevant reviews and 20 primary studies (of which nine were not included in the reviews) were identified.Evidence synthesisThe results show that more-robust evidence is required if policymakers are to maximize the health impact of fiscal policy relating to transport schemes of this kind.ConclusionsDrawing on a literature review and insights from the SLOTH (sleep, leisure, occupation, transportation, and home-based activities) time-budget model, this paper argues that financial incentives may have a larger role in promoting walking and cycling than is acknowledged generally

Toward the Integration of Economics and Outdoor Recreation Management

The general theme of this bulletin is that improved management of public-sector recreational resources is a multidisciplinary task. To this end, we attempt to integrate elements of outdoor recreation management theory and economics. The bulletin is written for both resource managers and researchers. For the former, our intent is to emphasize the importance of being aware of economic implications-at least conceptually-of management actions that influence the character and availability of recreational opportunities. To researchers involved in developing recreation management theory, we draw attention to the parallel between recreation management theory and the traditional managerial economic model of the firm. To economists, particularly those involved in developing and applying nonmarket valuation techniques, we draw attention to the types of decisions faced by resource managers. We argue that the most important resource allocation issues are of the incremental variety, so nonmarket valuation should also yield incremental values. These values alone, however, are not sufficient economic input into rational public choice analysis. The missing link , or nexus, between outdoor recreation management theory and economic analysis is the integration of supply and demand, as called for by traditional managerial economics. Collaborative research to develop recreation supply response functions akin to agricultural production functions is an essential step that is missing from both literatures. Theoretical and applied work assume greater practical importance if they feed information into this broadened framework. It is our hope that this bulletin will bring the disciplines closer to that realization

Public infrastructure investment and non-market work in India: Selective evidence from time use data.

Theory of allocation of time revealed that historically market-time has never consistently been greater than the non-market time and herefore the allocation and efficiency of latter may be equally important, if not more, to economic growth than that of former. The time budget data challenged the existing theories on allocation of time where nonmarket time aggregates leisure and work at home. The time budget findings revealed that unpaid work at home and leisure are not affected in the same way by changes in socio-economic variables. Tricotomising the allocation of time into work in market, unpaid work at home and leisure has important policy implications; in integrating the care economy into economic modeling and in turn in macropolicy making. This is particularly important in the context of developing countries, where public infrastructure deficit induces locking of time in unpaid work spurting a trade off with the time otherwise spent in the market economy activities or eroding leisure. Against this backdrop,this paper examined the link between public infrastructure investment and time allocation across gender in the context of selected states in India. The direction of regression coefficients suggests that public infrastructure investment affects market work, non-market work and leisure time in different ways with evident gender differentials. The time allocation in SNA activity of women is found significant and inversely related to the public infrastructure related to water supply. But there is no evidence that the release of time locked up in unpaid SNA work through better infrastructure can have substitution effect towards market work. This gets reinforced by the significant positive link between infrastructure and time allocation in Non-SNA activity, which manifests forced leisure. This in turn implies that though infrastructure investment lessens the time stress in unpaid SNA activity; complementary employment policies are required along with infrastructure investment to ensure substitution effect of unpaid work with market work, which in turn can have impact on household poverty. In particular,the analysis of time budget statistics enables the identification of the complementary fiscal services required for better gender sensitive human development. The overall onclusion of the paper is that fiscal policies designed to redress income poverty can be partial if it does not take in to account aspects of time poverty.Infrastructure ; Investment

"Deficient Public Infrastructure and Private Costs: Evidence from a Time-Use Survey for the Water Sector in India"

This paper presents new evidence on the links between public-infrastructure provisioning and time allocation related to the water sector in India. An analysis of time-use data reveals that worsening public infrastructure affects market work, with evident gender differentials. The results also suggest that access to public infrastructure can lead to substitution effects in time allocation between unpaid work and market work. The broad conclusion of the paper is that public-investment policy can redress intrahousehold inequalities, in terms of labor-supply decisions, by supporting initiatives that reduce the allocation of time in nonmarket work.

MODELING THE VALUE OF HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION AND LEISURE TIME: AN HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

Consumer/Household Economics,

Total work and gender facts and possible explanations

Time-diary data from 27 countries show a negative relationship between GDP per capita and gender differences in total workfor pay and at home. In rich non-Catholic countries men and women average about the same amount of total work. Survey results show scholars and the general public believe that women work more. Widespread average equality does not arise from gender differences in the price of time, intra-family bargaining or spousal complementarity. Several theories, including ones based on social norms, might explain these findings and are consistent with evidence from the World Values Surveys and microeconomic data from Australia and Germany.time use, gender differences,household production

Time Vs. Goods: The Value of Measuring Household Production Technologies

We take U.S. and Israeli household data on expenditures of time and goods, generate an exhaustive set of commodities that households produce/consume using them, and calculate their relative goods intensities. Leisure activities are uniformly relatively time intensive, health, travel and lodging relatively goods intensive. We demonstrate how education and age alter the goods intensity of household production. The results of this accounting can be used as guides to: Understanding how goods and income taxation interact to affect welfare; expanding notions of the determinants of international flows of goods; generating models of business cycles and endogenous growth to include interactions of goods and time consumption; and obtaining better measures of the distribution of well being.