A TALE OF TWO CLAMS: POLICY ANTICIPATION AND INDUSTRY PRODUCTIVITY

Sound environmental regulation must achieve environmental objectives while maximizing economic efficiency. This paper evaluates the impact of regulation on efficiency by measuring annual productivity across regulatory regimes in two similar fisheries with differing policy expectations. Anticipation of regulatory change produced strategic behavior in one fishery, leading to depressed productivity; in the other, regulatory change was not expected, and productivity did not suffer. These results imply that fisheries regulation should take into account both firms' policy expectations and the potentially perverse incentives that may be created by policy change.Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis,

An inverse association between the Mediterranean diet and bladder cancer risk: a pooled analysis of 13 cohort studies

The role of diet in bladder carcinogenesis has yet to be established. To date most studies have investigated dietary components individually, rather than as dietary patterns, which may provide stronger evidence for any influence of diet on bladder carcinogenesis. The Mediterranean diet has been associated with many health benefits, but few studies have investigated its association with bladder cancer risk.Peer reviewe

Attachment and coping in psychosis in relation to spiritual figures

Background: Studies have found higher levels of insecure attachment in individuals with schizophrenia. Attachment theory provides a framework necessary for conceptualizing the development of interpersonal functioning. Some aspects of the attachment of the believer to his/her spiritual figure are similar to those between the child and his/her parents. The correspondence hypothesis suggests that early child-parent interactions correspond to a person's relation to a spiritual figure. The compensation hypothesis suggests that an insecure attachment history would lead to a strong religiousness/spirituality as a compensation for the lack of felt security. The aim of this study is to explore attachment models in psychosis vs. healthy controls, the relationships between attachment and psychopathology and the attachment processes related to spiritual figures. Methods: Attachment models were measured in 30 patients with psychosis and 18 controls with the AAI (Adult Attachment interview) in relationship with psychopathology. Beliefs and practices related to a spiritual figure were investigated by qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results: Patients with psychosis showed a high prevalence of insecure avoidant attachment. Spiritual entities functioned like attachment figures in two thirds of cases. Interviews revealed the transformation of internal working models within relation to a spiritual figure: a compensation process was found in 7 of the 32 subjects who showed a significant attachment to a spiritual figure. Conclusions: Attachment theory allows us to highlight one of the underlying dimensions of spiritual coping in patients with psychosis

EVALUATING TRADABLE PROPERTY RIGHTS FOR NATURAL RESOURCES: THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC ENTRY AND EXIT

This paper presents an econometric approach to the evaluation of environmental regulation using tradable property rights. Existing empirical research on this issue, which compares overall industry efficiency before and after the introduction of new regulations, conflates two distinct phenomena: efficiency changes due to exit of excess capital, and changes in the efficiency of individual firms. Because the regulatory process induces firms of different types to enter and exit the industry at different rates, the true efficiency and equity effects of tradable property rights cannot be assessed without correcting for these changes in sample composition. This paper examines the impact of regulatory change in the Mid-Atlantic surf clam fishery, using an econometric model that separates its effects on industry structure and vessel efficiency. The analysis finds that, contrary to widely held belief, tradable property rights did not disproportionately benefit either large fishing firms or highly integrated firms

Coase and the Clams: Constructing Markets for Property Rights in Fisheries

This dissertation addresses the impact of environmental regulation on resource-based industries by analyzing firms' responses to current environmental policies and to predicted changes in the regulatory regime. This research presents a theoretical motivation for and empirical estimates of changes in productivity, industrial organization, and strategic behavior due to the transition from firm-level regulation of inputs and outputs ("command and control") to tradable property rights (or "individual transferable quotas") in the commercial fishing sector.The first chapter reviews the empirical evaluations of markets for fishing rights. The following three chapters focus on the Mid-Atlantic surf clam and ocean quahog fishery, the first U.S. Federal marine fishery to create property rights. This industry implemented property rights in 1990 after fourteen years of command and control. The second chapter is an institutional analysis of the design and implementation of property rights in the clam industry. It discusses the role of pre-existing institutions in generating imperfections in the market for property rights.The third chapter estimates the impact of tradable property rights on productivity. The period prior to implementation of property rights shows significant reduction in productivity as firms sought to maximize their share of the impending property rights. After the transition to property rights productivity rebounded to the level prior to strategic behavior. This chapter demonstrates the importance of firms' expectations on current industry outcomes and the short run losses associated with strategic behavior.The fourth chapter develops an economic model of the individual firm's decision to participate in or exit the industry. First, the data demonstrate that while there was significant exit of fishing vessels , considerably fewer firms actually left the industry; and while those that did were primarily independent harvesters, this was equally true under both regulatory regimes. Second, empirical results show that long-term contracts with buyers (processors) and anticipation of future regulatory change had a preponderant impact on the exit decision.This dissertation has two significant implications for resource management: first, the hypothesis that tradable property rights disproportionately harm small, independent harvesters must be rejected; and second, the manner in which policies are implemented is significant in determining their ultimate impact on industry structure

A TALE OF TWO CLAMS: POLICY ANTICIPATION AND INDUSTRY PRODUCTIVITY

Sound environmental regulation must achieve environmental objectives while maximizing economic efficiency. This paper evaluates the impact of regulation on efficiency by measuring annual productivity across regulatory regimes in two similar fisheries with differing policy expectations. Anticipation of regulatory change produced strategic behavior in one fishery, leading to depressed productivity; in the other, regulatory change was not expected, and productivity did not suffer. These results imply that fisheries regulation should take into account both firms' policy expectations and the potentially perverse incentives that may be created by policy change

A TALE OF TWO CLAMS: POLICY ANTICIPATION AND INDUSTRY PRODUCTIVITY

Sound environmental regulation must achieve environmental objectives while maximizing economic efficiency. This paper evaluates the impact of regulation on efficiency by measuring annual productivity across regulatory regimes in two similar fisheries with differing policy expectations. Anticipation of regulatory change produced strategic behavior in one fishery, leading to depressed productivity; in the other, regulatory change was not expected, and productivity did not suffer. These results imply that fisheries regulation should take into account both firms' policy expectations and the potentially perverse incentives that may be created by policy change