"Fat taxes" have been proposed as a way of addressing food-related health concerns. In this paper, we investigate the possible effects of "thin subsidies," consumption subsidies for healthier foods. Empirical simulations, based on data from the Continuing Study of Food Intake by Individuals, are...

Invasive species are a negative externality associated with imported goods. Policies aimed at excluding pests associated with imports include pre-shipment treatment requirements, varied inspection schemes, treatment at the border, penalties, and import bans or restrictions. Existing policies are...

Although individuals with poor food security might be expected to have reduced food intake, and therefore a lower likelihood of being overweight, some empirical evidence has indicated that overweight status is actually more prevalent among the food insecure. As obesity is associated with...

A driving factor behind pesticide regulation in Canada and the United States is the desire to protect consumers from harmful residues on food. The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) was unanimously passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996 and hailed as a landmark piece of pesticide legislation. It...

We develop a model for the dynamic management of spatially heterogeneous resources with multiple users. We apply our model to the case of groundwater and show that contrary to the results of existing studies even when externalities are highly concentrated in space, significant efficiency gains...

In comparing second-best prices and quantities, studies assume that quantities bind with probability one. We present a more general and realistic model of second-best regulation where quantity instruments can bind with probability less than one. This additional flexibility of quantity...

Most existing economic analyses of optimal groundwater management use single-cell aquifer models, which assume that an aquifer responds uniformly and instantly to groundwater pumping. This paper demonstrates how spatially explicit aquifer response equations from the water resources engineering...

This analysis presents a theoretical model of firm response to border enforcement and evaluates both the intended and unintended effects under two enforcement regimes: destruction versus treatment of contaminated shipments. The results indicate that importers may respond to increased inspection...