| By: |
Gilliland, Ted E.;
Sanchirico, James N.;
Taylor, J. Edward |
| Abstract: |
Protecting degraded open-access natural resources while maintaining or
improving individuals’ livelihoods is a major challenge, particularly in
developing countries. Tourism (especially ecotourism) is often viewed as a
win-win solution that can shift natural resource users away from resource
extraction and increase local incomes. Existing studies examining the impacts
of tourism on natural resource use and livelihoods fail to account for the
full suite of effects tourism has on local economies. We offer a new
methodology to assess the impacts of tourism growth by combining local
economy-wide impact evaluation (LEWIE) techniques from development economics
with bioeconomic modeling techniques from natural resource economics. We
construct our “Bio-LEWIE” model using a novel data set of microeconomic and
biological data from the western Philippines. We simulate the impact of a 10
percent increase in tourism expenditures on fishing pressure and local incomes
for different socioeconomic groups (e.g., poor households versus nonpoor
households). We find that if fish cannot be traded with outside markets,
fishing pressure increases and real incomes decrease for most households in
the long-run; this counteracts some of the benefits of tourism. In contrast,
if fish can be imported, fishing pressure decreases and real incomes increase
for most households in the long-run; this reinforces potential gains from
tourism growth and may even counteract losses by poorer socioeconomic groups.
The Bio-LEWIE model predicts the costs and benefits of tourism growth, when
they will occur, and for whom. This framework can help policy-makers in the
developing world find synergies between natural resource protection,
sustainable livelihoods, and economic growth. |
| Keywords: |
Natural resources, Fisheries, Poverty, Tourism, Bioeconomic models, CGE, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q22, O12, Z32, |
| Date: |
2016 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236214&r=tur |