IMPLICATIONS OF TAXING QUOTA VALUE IN AN INDIVIDUAL TRANSFERABLE QUOTA FISHERY: COMMENT

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Buying Back the Living Murray: At What Price?

In June 2004 the Council of Australian Governments approved the Intergovernmental Agreement on Addressing Water Overallocation and Achieving Environmental Objectives in the Murray-Darling Basin (‘IGMDB’). The IGMDB set out arrangements for a ‘Living Murray’ that includes a budget of $500 million to return 500 billion litres of water per year to the Murray River by 2009. Unfortunately, two years later and only 11 billion litres have been returned as environmental flows as a result of the initiative. In response, the Australian Government in April 2006 proposed a new scheme to purchase water entitlements from farmers who undertake water-savings measures. We examine this proposal in relation to the general economic principles for the allocation of scarce water. We contend that the latest initiative, although helpful, suffers from two fundamental problems in terms of water pricing. First, the current market price for water entitlements does not include the value of water ‘in situ’, or the benefits it generates separate from its value in consumption. Second, the constraint imposed that water users undertake infrastructure investments when selling their entitlements unnecessarily raises the cost of returning water to the Murray River. We conclude that the latest scheme to achieve the laudable goals of the ‘Living Murray’ is not cost effective and that the ratio of litres of water returned to dollars spent could be much higher if the pricing policies were changed.Living Murray, scarce water, water entitlements, water pricing, pricing policies

Tuna-Led Sustainable Developlment in the Pacific

The paper reviews the importance of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and examines whether current and proposed economically focussed institutional mechanisms, that underpin tuna management, are sufficient to promote appropriate and long term tuna-led development. Substantial potential gains are shown to exist from co-operation in terms of tuna management, but it seems highly unlikely such benefits will be realised in the short or medium term despite the formation in 2004 of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Even if gains from co-operation were to be realised, without substantial improvements in the nstitutional quality and capacity of many PICs the tuna fisheries might still fail to sustain the region’s long-term development. The study’s implications are that the twin development priorities in the region should be support for social infrastructure, especially capacity building to increase the effectiveness of the public sector, and the promotion of co-operative approaches to ensure the sustainability and profitable use of the region’s shared fishery resources.

Sydney Water : Pricing for Sustainability

We examine how scarcity pricing can be used to assist with urban water demand management in Sydney in low rainfall periods using an estimated aggregate daily water demand function. Modelling shows that current water supplies and water prices are inadequate to prevent Sydney reaching critically low water storage levels should there be a low rainfall period similar to what occurred in 2001 2005. Simulations indicate that, in low rainfall periods, the water price needed to balance supply and demand exceeds the marginal cost of supplying desalinised water. The policy implication is that even with expected increases in supply (groundwater withdrawals, recycling), Sydney water prices must be substantially raised over their current levels, preferably at predefined water storage trigger levels, in response to low rainfall periods.water, pricing, sustainability

Sydney Water: Pricing for Sustainability

We examine how scarcity pricing can be used to assist with urban water demand management in Sydney in low rainfall periods using an estimated aggregate daily water demand function. Modelling shows that current water supplies and water prices are inadequate to prevent Sydney reaching critically low water storage levels should there be a low rainfall period similar to what occurred in 2001-2005. Simulations indicate that, in low rainfall periods, the water price needed to balance supply and demand exceeds the marginal cost of supplying desalinised water. The policy implication is that even with expected increases in supply (groundwater withdrawals, recycling), Sydney water prices must be substantially raised over their current levels, preferably at pre-defined water storage trigger levels, in response to low rainfall periods.water, pricing, sustainability

Pricing Sydney water

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Growth and the Environment in Canada: An Empirical Analysis

Standard reduced form models are estimated for Canada to examine the relationships between real per capita GDP and four measures of environmental degradation. Of the four chosen measures of environmental degradation, only concentrations of carbon monoxide appear to decline in the long run with increases in real per capita income. The data used in the reduced form models are also tested for the presence of unit roots and for the existence of cointegration between each of the measures of environmental degradation and per capita income. Unit root tests indicate nonstationarity in logs of the measures of environmental degradation and per capita income. The Engle-Granger test and the maximum eigenvalue test suggest that per capita income and the measures of environmental degradation are not cointegrated, or that a long-term relationship between the variables does not exist. Causality tests also indicate a bi-directional causality, rather than a uni-directional causality, from income to the environment. The results suggest that Canada does not have the luxury of being able to grow out of its environmental problems. The implication is that to prevent further environmental degradation, Canada requires concerted policies and incentives to reduce pollution intensity per unit of output across sectors, to shift from more to less pollution-producing-outputs and to lower the environmental damage associated with aggregate consumption.environment, economic growth, Canada

The Effects of Buy-Back Programs in the British Columbia Salmon Fishery

Policymakers have implemented five distinct buybacks of either vessels or salmon licenses over the past three decades in the British Columbia (BC) salmon fishery. The earliest buyback was one of the first of its kind in any fishery and the most recent buyback is one of the largest ever in terms of reducing vessel numbers and the funds used. This paper reviews the circumstances under which these buybacks were conducted with an emphasis on their impact on reducing fishing capacity and effort. The focus is on the two most recent buybacks that took place in 1996 and 1998-2000, what has been learned and what they have achieved.

MULTI-SPECIES INDIVIDUAL TRANSFERABLE QUOTAS: THE SCOTIA-FUNDY MOBILE GEAR GROUNDFISHERY

Few studies examine the economic effects of individual harvesting rights in multi-species fisheries. Using costs and earnings data from a multispecies individual transferable quota (ITQ) fishery in Nova Scotia, before and after the introduction of harvesting rights, the effects on inputs, outputs, prices, and vessel exit are examined. The results provide insights about the management of multi-species ITQs.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Financing Sustainable Development : Country Undertakings and Rights for Environmental Sustainability (CURES)

We propose a global mechanism to finance sustainable development (SD) that offers a number of advantages over the current Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The mechanism would be multinational, provide incentives for rich and poor countries to promote SD, incorporate the principle of common, but differentiated, responsibilities and link incentives and funding for SD to structural benchmarks and performance targets. It would operate as a large fund into which rich countries would pay based on their level of population, per capita income and change in a measure of environmental sustainability. Receipts from the funds, called Country Undertakings and Rights for Environmental Sustainability (CURES), would be made to poor countries based on their population, per capita income and absolute level of environmental sustainability. This approach differentiates payments and receipts on the basis of income, while rewarding improvements in environmental performance in rich countries, and making greater payments to countries with greater environmental problems. To promote flexibility, recipient countries would be able to trade, bank or borrow their assigned CURES, provided that the trade resulted in a verifiable improvement in environmental sustainability in the purchasing country. A reformed GEF that adopted the desirable features of CURES, if widely adopted and funded at a sufficiently high level, would offer a significant boost to global SD and would greatly assist poor countries to address the twin challenges of poverty and environmental degradation.sustainable development, intergovernmental financial transfers, adjusted net savings, GEF