To protect and restore environmental quality, efficient and effective conservation policies are needed. Designing policies require a sound understanding of the contributions of natural endowments to economic vitality, and the performance and impacts of conservation programs. This dissertation consists of three essays, and addresses several issues relevant to these two...
Wildlife managers are on the front lines of the effort to conserve wildlife and
are required to do so cost-effectively. This dissertation consists of three manuscripts
that integrate economics and ecology to inform cost-effective wildlife management.
The first and second manuscripts focus on identifying cost-effective wildlife
management plans. The third...
The impact of recent severe droughts throughout the United States, the potential for climate change to intensify the frequency and severity of drought, and discussion about the future of government assistance in agriculture highlight the need for a transition from drought as ‘disaster’ to drought as ‘managed risk’. However, guidance...
This dissertation consists of three papers on the use of incentives for conservation of endangered species on private land. The first paper examines incentives based on providing landowners with assurances regarding future regulation in exchange for their participation in a conservation agreement. The second and third papers are empirical analyses...
The objective of this dissertation is to theoretically and empirically examine the role of firm heterogeneity in terms of productivity and skill-intensity in the agglomeration process and the effect of agglomeration on regional economic development.
In the first essay, I analyze the effect of trade liberalization on agglomeration of high-...
This dissertation consists of three papers on land use economics and regulation. The
first paper reviews numerous past literatures on how land-use regulation, agricultural
subsidies, and use-value assessment method affect land values. The second paper uses a
theoretical model to analyze how imposing minimum-lot-size zoning and different
designs of minimum-lot-size...
Development along the Oregon coast is continuing in areas that are known to be hazardous, in spite of strict zoning and other laws. The coast commonly sees erosion that can wash away cliffs and undermine structures as well as accretion that can bury houses in sand. However the much more...
Environmental quality and the spatial distribution of economic activities affect each other in many ways. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to understanding the complex interrelationship and its policy implications. This dissertation consists of three essays.
The first essay examines the roles that locational amenities and increasing...
Building community capacity is a central concern of both policymakers and community residents. Both want to understand why some communities are more successful in achieving positive social, economic and environmental outcomes, and how to increase the capacity of communities to achieve these outcomes. This is particularly true in communities that...
Water temperature is an important measure of water quality, as well as a dominant factor affecting aquatic life within the stream environment. Elevated water temperatures can decrease the survival rate of fish in each life stage. Cold water species, such as salmonids, are particularly susceptible to elevated water temperatures. For...