This paper studies the Viking age – the roughly 300 year period beginning in 800 AD – from the perspective of the economics of conflict. The Viking age is interesting because throughout the time period, the scale of conflict increased – small scale raiding behaviour eventually evolved into...

For a number of animal species, speculators are betting on future price increases by holding large stockpiles of commodities from the animal. We develop a model to explain this behavior. We derive conditions where it can be optimal for a speculator to induce poachers to harvest so rapidly as to...

The beginnings of agriculture, or the agricultural revolution, is now recognized to be the widespread adoption of known practices – a change in behavior – as opposed to a phenomenon of discovery and innovation. In this paper, we combine elements of three theories—climate change, property...

Traditional grazing grounds near Amboseli National Park (Kenya) are being rapidly converted to cropland – a process that closes important wildlife corridors. We use a spatially explicit simulation model that integrates ecosystem dynamics and pastoral decision-making to explore the scope for...

Increasing human interference with natural systems causes us to re-think our perception of wildlife species and the economic choices society makes with regards to their management. Accordingly, we generalize existing 'bioeconomic' models by proposing an economically-based classification of...

Worldwide, many nations impose blending of their transport fuels with biofuels, approximating 10% globally by 2020, to contribute to energy security while reducing emission of green house gasses (GHG). Food riots, scientific insights that question the GHG benefits and raised concern about the...