This paper offers a theoretical and empirical model of ecosystem-based fishery management. A multi-species and multi-fleet model integrating Lotka–Volterra trophic dynamics as well as production and profit assessments is developed and applied to the coastal fishery of French Guiana. This small-scale fishery constitutes a challenging example with high fish biodiversity, several non-selective fleets and a potentially increasing local food demand due to demographic growth. The dynamic model is calibrated with 13 species and four fleets using monthly catch and effort data from 2006 to 2009. Several contrasted fishing scenarios including status quo, total closure, economic and viable strategies are then simulated. They are compared from the viewpoints of both biodiversity preservation and socioeconomic performance, assuming fixed landing prices and fixed costs. We show that fishing outputs, including food supply and fleet profitability, can be sustained on average but a loss of species cannot be avoided.

This paper analyzes the optimal mix of adaptation and mitigation expenditures in a cost-effective setting, in which countries cooperate to achieve a long-term stabilization target (550 CO2-eq). It uses an Integrated Assessment Model (AD-WITCH) that describes the relationships between different adaptation modes (reactive and anticipatory), mitigation and capacity building to analyze the optimal portfolio of adaptation measures. Results show that the optimal intertemporal distribution of climate policy measures is characterized by early investments in mitigation followed by large adaptation expenditures a few decades later. Hence, the possibility of adapting does not justify postponing mitigation. Moreover, a climate change policy combining mitigation and adaptation is less costly than mitigation alone. In this sense mitigation and adaptation are shown to be strategic complements rather than mutually exclusive.

This paper integrates soil science variables into an economic analysis of agricultural output among small-scale farmers in Kenya's highlands. The integration is valuable because farmers’ choice of inputs depends on both the status of the soil and socioeconomic conditions. The study uses a stochastic production frontier in which the individual farm's distance to the frontier depends systematically on individual factors. We show the importance of including key soil properties and find that phosphorus has a negative output elasticity, suggesting that farms may be using the wrong fertilizer mix. Hence, the central policy implication is that while fertilizers are generally beneficial, their application needs to be based on better soil information. This highlights the importance of strengthening agricultural extension, increased access to markets and more diversified supply of production inputs.

The establishment of a private property regime is often proposed as a solution to the degradation of natural resources. While arguably more efficient than open access, private property often comes at a distributional cost (Weitzman, M. (1974), ‘Free access vs private ownership as alternative systems for managing common property’, Journal of Economic Theory 8(2): 225–234) as traditional users of the resource lose income and employment in the process. The present paper demonstrates that, in the case of renewable resources, traditional users may gain from privatization even if they are denied ownership of the resource. Indeed, a private owner maximizing profits tends to preserve the resource, which results in long-term increases in employment. We derive the conditions under which these long-term gains more than compensate traditional users for the short-run fall in labor demand and resource rents.

The occupation of the last remaining tropical forests has been an initiative of many developing nations that is debated by the global community due to impacts on soil erosion, biodiversity loss and contributions to global climate change. Arguments against development range from the irreversible nature of tropical deforestation to the synergistic losses associated with environmental degradation and continued poverty. The focus of this paper is to determine if evidence of market advancements and growth can be found in an Amazonian settlement, thus providing counter-evidence for the boom–bust pattern of development that has been predicted for much of the Amazon. Using panel survey data (for four survey waves between 1996 and 2009), we find trends that are consistent with the industrial life cycle, suggesting a pattern that is more consistent with growth, development and consolidation.

We estimate the marginal willingness-to-pay for PM10 abatement in the three largest Mexican cities. We use a unique data set with actual market transactions at the household level from January 2003 to May 2004 and observed PM10 concentrations. We follow an instrumental variable approach to mitigate bias from omitted variables. We exploit the seasonality in PM10 concentrations due to rainfall patterns in those cities to construct a valid instrument for PM10. We find the house price–pollution elasticity to be around − 0.07 for Mexico City, − 0.05 for Guadalajara, and − 0.07 for Monterrey, implying that one unit reduction in PM10 levels is valued at US$41.73, 36.34 and 43.47, respectively. Our results indicate that urban residents of Mexico are willing to pay for cleaner air.