This paper envisions the national weather index as an efficient instrument to hedge the agricultural risk. The theoretical framework is established based on the partition of risk and the cost minimization. The Morocco case was applied and the result shows that the risk can be reduced to a larger...

Because of pressures to convert natural areas to commercial economic development uses, protecting natural areas in developing countries is a major challenge. A developing country may desire to protect natural areas, but relatively high out-of-pocket and opportunity costs of protection may pose...

Water shortages in important grain-producing regions of China may significantly affect China's agricultural production potential and international markets. This paper provides an overview of how water scarcity could affect China's agricultural production and trade. The paper identifies the areas...

Cost-effective targeting of conservation activities has only recently been addressed by economists. Most work to date has focused on finding the best locations to set aside land for the protection of biodiversity. An economic approach to the problem, where biodiversity reserve networks are...

Inefficient performance of irrigation systems not only leads to a waste of water resources, but may also affect agriculture production, especially in regions facing a water stress problem. In rural China, only 40% of the water allocated to irrigation is effectively used, a figure much lower than...

Since their inception, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries have attracted participants willing to undertake great financial and personal risks to participate in these high valued fisheries. Although entry to the fisheries is limited, excess capital and overcapacity, together with...

The purpose of this paper is to develop a water allocation and technology adoption model under the prior appropriation doctrine that recognizes informational asymmetry among water users and between water users and water authorities. We consider informational asymmetry about the agent's type,...

This research examines a spatially explicit allocation of habitat restoration activities in an Oregon watershed to meet water temperature targets for the benefit of endangered salmonid fish species. Integrating hydrological, biological and economic models, a series of optimization problems are...

Marine ecologists warn that humans are "fishing down marine food webs." To explore the economic implications of this phenomenon, this paper applies portfolio theory to aggregate fisheries data. It poses two definitions of a sustainable mean-variance catch frontier. It computes a mean-variance...

We examine the role of investment opportunities on the marginal cost of a backstop technology and the resulting implications for optimal depletion of a non-renewable resource. We consider the case in which two economic agents (individuals, cities, or nations) compete for a non-renewable...