Cloé Garnache

Solving the Phosphorus Pollution Puzzle: Synthesis and Directions for Future Research

Despite the success of efforts to reduce phosphorus (P) pollution from point sources, P from non-point agricultural sources remains a vexing problem with many U.S. water bodies having impairments. Key to solving the P pollution puzzle is to take stock of progress to date, the puzzle pieces available, and the gaps to be filled. In this paper, we synthesize the state of knowledge on P pollution, discuss the state of existing public programs, and review economists’ contributions to informing P pollution policies. We review the water quality valuation literature, identifying limitations in the linkages to policy-relevant environmental quality metrics. We examine how and why P is used agriculturally, along with recent advances in market-based policy design and field testing. We survey new knowledge in biology and engineering, including improved understanding of the fate and transport of P. In light of recent learning and persistent knowledge gaps, we recommend directions for economic research to add needed pieces to the puzzle of how to protect our water bodies. Puzzle gaps meriting attention include mechanisms to target public funds more effectively in voluntary abatement programs, policy design for emerging mitigation technologies, new ways to implement performance-based policies, means to leverage social norms and behavioral cues, changes in the “pay-the-polluter” paradigm, and application of state-of-the-art evaluation methods to conservation programs. Beyond the realm of public policy lies that of private supply chains, where establishment of environmental standards holds additional promise. Rich research opportunities exist for economists in tandem with biologists, engineers, and others

Fish, Farmers, and Floods: Coordinating Institutions to Optimize the Provision of Ecosystem Services

This paper investigates the role of coordinating institutions on the returns to ecosystem services in the context of fisheries and habitat management. It examines the trade-offs between the production of crops and habitat for juvenile salmon in relation to flood events on a California floodplain. A bioeconomic model of the floodplain agriculture, salmon population, and California ocean fishery is developed to estimate the farmers’ and fishers’ economic surpluses. The results reveal large total surpluses gains for producers from coordinating the institutions to jointly manage the freshwater and marine ecosystems. The gains from improving habitat management exceed those from optimally setting the harvest. These findings provide important insights for fisheries management where efforts have traditionally focused on improving harvest levels.

Recreation Ecosystem Services from Chaparral Dominated Landscapes: A Baseline Assessment from National Forests in Southern California

This chapter examines recreation ecosystem services provided by chaparral dominated landscapes. Such areas are popular around the world amongst recreation users, including hikers, mountain bikers, campers, and nature enthusiasts. Yet, relatively few studies have documented the recreation services provided by chaparral landscapes such as national forests. For policy makers to manage these areas effectively, baseline information on the provision of recreation services and the populations who benefit is important, especially given current stressors such as overuse and projected climate change effects. To this end, this chapter examines four chaparral dominated national forests surrounding the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas, namely the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, and San Bernardino. Using data from the USDA Forest Service’s National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) survey, we discuss the types of visitors using these public lands and their recreation use patterns. Our analyses suggest recreation in chaparral dominated national forests is especially important for minorities. Yet, these landscapes are facing altered human and natural disturbance regimes that may affect the recreation services they provide.

The Social Costs of Environmental Goods Provision: A Cautionary Guide to the Revealed-Preference Approach

Empirically estimated behavioral models have emerged as the preferred approach to revealing the social opportunity costs of pollution abatement in many areas of environmental economics. This paper identifies conceptual issues in the implementation of the revealed-preference approach to nonpoint-source pollution and provides methods to overcome them. We focus on the common second-best setting where emissions are not measurable at the source and pollution reduction is incentivized indirectly through payments tied to practice adoption. First, we show through simulation that in discrete choice models estimated on microdata, the use of predicted opportunity costs provides an erroneous estimate of underlying abatement costs. We then focus on two metrics commonly used to represent the marginal social costs of abatement actions, namely, average and marginal program expenditures incurred by the regulating agency. We show theoretically and empirically that these metrics generally fail to reveal underlying social costs.