This book presents a thorough overview and assessment of the economics of the wildlife trade for scholars and conservationists, requiring only a basic understanding of economic principles. It will appeal to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of wildlife conservation who are conversant in basic economics.
This book presents a thorough overview and assessment of the economics of the wildlife trade for scholars and conservationists, requiring only a basic understanding of economic principles.
Wildlife conservation and the sustainable extraction of living organisms from the wild for human use are fundamentally tied to issues of resource allocation and economics. Yet, there has been a conspicuous dearth of scholarly contribution that examines the wildlife trade using the theories and analytical tools provided by economists. This book fills this gap by presenting a theoretical framework built on a foundation of microeconomic theory that is used to analyze the trade in wildlife goods, the potential effects of various conservation policies, and the economic forces that govern the workings of the markets for wildlife goods. The focus of the book is on explicating the possible impacts of supply-side policies that have been implemented or proposed to achieve a sustainable level of wildlife extraction. The policies that will be considered include: stricter anti-poaching policies; trade bans; and legalizing the sale of alternative sources of supplies such as farmed goods, synthetic substitutes, and accumulated stockpiles. The book discusses how the implementation of these policies could affect the incentives of both the suppliers of wildlife goods and the buyers to participate in these markets. It also considers how market structure, market concentration, and asymmetric information can affect the impact of these policies.
This book is intended for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of wildlife conservation who are familiar with basic economics and interested in a rigorous exposition of the economic principles relevant for the study of the wildlife trade.
1. Introduction
2. Wildlife Conservation and Trade: Theory and Practice
3. Markets for Wildlife Goods
4. An Economic Model of the Market for Wildlife
Goods
5. The Economic Model with Substitute Goods and Complete Information
6.
The Economic Model with Substitute Goods and Asymmetric Information
7. The
Economic Model with Speculators and Stockpiling
8. Influencing Actor
Incentives in Wildlife Trade
9. Toward More Effective Wildlife Trade
Regulation
Chapter
10. Conclusions
Frederick Chen is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Wake Forest University, USA. He teaches microeconomics, mathematical economics, and game theory, and his current research interests lie mainly in the intersection of economics and population biology
Michael t Sas-Rolfes is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist who has worked as an independent research consultant for a vast range of organisations, including the United Nations Environment Programme, USAID, International Trade Centre, WWF, Resource Africa and Save the Rhino International. He is currently a research fellow at the Oxford Martin Programme on Wildlife Trade, UK
