TY - JOUR

T1 - How trade in ecotourism services can save nature

T2 - a policy scenario analysis

AU - Hübler, Michael

N1 - Funding Information: I thank two anonymous reviewers and Peter Nunnenkamp, formerly at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany, for very helpful comments.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - This article considers a developing country which is abundant in a non-renewable natural resource but scarce in industrial goods. The resource can be used for consumption or for exporting ecotourism services. The article examines scenarios in which technical progress, rising demand for tourism services and higher preferences for the environment reduce today's optimal depletion of the resource. Myopic behaviour and future terms-of-trade gains, however, encourage overexploitation of the resource. As a remedy, the article derives the socially optimal subsidy for the conservation of the resource and discusses North–South transfer schemes which save nature via trade in ecotourism services. Numerical examples suggest that under optimistic assumptions a subsidy rate of about 10% would suffice to preserve the natural resource in the developing country for the provision of tourism services. The resulting cost burden would represent less than 0.03% of the Northern GDP.

AB - This article considers a developing country which is abundant in a non-renewable natural resource but scarce in industrial goods. The resource can be used for consumption or for exporting ecotourism services. The article examines scenarios in which technical progress, rising demand for tourism services and higher preferences for the environment reduce today's optimal depletion of the resource. Myopic behaviour and future terms-of-trade gains, however, encourage overexploitation of the resource. As a remedy, the article derives the socially optimal subsidy for the conservation of the resource and discusses North–South transfer schemes which save nature via trade in ecotourism services. Numerical examples suggest that under optimistic assumptions a subsidy rate of about 10% would suffice to preserve the natural resource in the developing country for the provision of tourism services. The resulting cost burden would represent less than 0.03% of the Northern GDP.

KW - (eco-)tourism

KW - developing countries

KW - International trade

KW - non-renewable resource

KW - Southern Africa

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049563711&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/0376835X.2018.1489780

DO - 10.1080/0376835X.2018.1489780

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85049563711

VL - 36

SP - 127

EP - 143

JO - Development Southern Africa

JF - Development Southern Africa

SN - 0376-835X

IS - 1

ER -