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Is the Endangered Species Act Endangering Species?

Author

Listed:
  • John A. List
  • Michael Margolis
  • Daniel E. Osgood
Abstract
We develop theory and present a suite of theoretically consistent empirical measures to explore the extent to which market intervention inadvertently alters resource allocation in a sequentialmove principal/agent game. We showcase our approach empirically by exploring the extent to which the U.S. Endangered Species Act has altered land development patterns. We report evidence indicating significant acceleration of development directly after each of several events deemed likely to raise fears among owners of habitat land. Our preferred estimate suggests an overall acceleration of land development by roughly one year. We also find from complementary hedonic regression models that habitat parcels declined in value when the habitat map was published, which is consistent with our estimates of the degree of preemption. These results have clear implications for policymakers, who continue to discuss alternative regulatory frameworks for species preservation. More generally, our modeling strategies can be widely applied -- from any particular economic environment that has a sequential-move nature to the narrower case of the political economy of regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • John A. List & Michael Margolis & Daniel E. Osgood, 2006. "Is the Endangered Species Act Endangering Species?," NBER Working Papers 12777, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12777
    Note: PE EEE
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Melstrom, Richard T., 2017. "The petroleum industry's response to an endangered species listing," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258281, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Richard T. Melstrom, 2021. "The Effect of Land Use Restrictions Protecting Endangered Species on Agricultural Land Values," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 162-184, January.
    3. Melina Kourantidou & Brooks A. Kaiser, 2019. "Research agendas for profitable invasive species," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 209-230, April.
    4. Christian Langpap & Joe Kerkvliet & Jason F Shogren, 2018. "The Economics of the U.S. Endangered Species Act: A Review of Recent Developments," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(1), pages 69-91.
    5. Melstrom, Richard T., 2017. "Where to drill? The petroleum industry's response to an endangered species listing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 320-327.
    6. Langpap, Christian & Kerkvliet, Joe, 2012. "Endangered species conservation on private land: Assessing the effectiveness of habitat conservation plans," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 1-15.
    7. Robert Innes & George Frisvold, 2009. "The Economics of Endangered Species," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 485-512, September.
    8. Grijalva, Therese & Berrens, Robert P. & Shaw, W. Douglass, 2011. "Species preservation versus development: An experimental investigation under uncertainty," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 995-1005, March.
    9. David Sunding, 2014. "Conserving Endangered Species through Regulation of Urban Development: The Case of California Vernal Pools," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(2), pages 290-305.
    10. Nelson, Erik J. & Withey, John C. & Pennington, Derric & Lawler, Joshua J., 2017. "Identifying the impacts of critical habitat designation on land cover change," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 89-125.
    11. Matias Iaryczower & Gabriel Katz, 2016. "What does IT Take for Congress to Enact Good Policies? an Analysis of Roll Call Voting in the US Congress," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 79-104, March.
    12. A. Terry Bahill, 2012. "Diogenes, a process for identifying unintended consequences," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 287-306, September.
    13. Lange, Andreas & Liu, Xiangping, 2014. "Land Development Restrictions and Preemptive Action - On the Benefits of Differentiated Regulation," Strategic Behavior and the Environment, now publishers, vol. 4(4), pages 393-414, December.
    14. Robalino, Juan & Villalobos-Fiatt, Laura, 2010. "Conservation Policies and Labor Markets: Unraveling the Effects of National Parks on Local Wages in Costa Rica," RFF Working Paper Series dp-10-02-efd, Resources for the Future.
    15. Frank Jensen & Niels Vestergaard & Hans Frost, 1999. "Asymmetrisk information og regulering af forurening," Working Papers 1/99, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics.
    16. Di Maria, Corrado & Smulders, Sjak & van der Werf, Edwin, 2012. "Absolute abundance and relative scarcity: Environmental policy with implementation lags," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 104-119.
    17. Walls, Margaret & Riddle, Anne, 2012. "Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and Land Use: Comparing Three Federal Policies," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-08, Resources for the Future.
    18. Tajibaeva, Liaila & Haight, Robert & Stephen, Polasky, 2014. "Welfare and Biodiversity Tradeoffs in Urban Open Space Protection," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170602, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • Q27 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Issues in International Trade

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