This study revisits and updates a 1999 economy-wide analysis predicting that increases in tourism would result in rapid economic as well as demographic growth on the Galapagos Islands. The following six years witnessed sharp growth in tourism; a restructuring of tourism around larger cruise ships and new, larger hotels; and rapid population growth. Our findings indicate that total income (that is, the gross domestic product) of the Galapagos increased by an estimated 78 per cent between 1999 and 2005, making the Galapagos economy among the fastest growing in the world. Tourism continued to be far and away the major driver of economic growth. Nevertheless, population growth via new migration to the islands nearly erased the effect of economic growth on per-capita household income. These findings raise questions about the compatibility of ecotourism and conservation in this unique ecological setting.

A lack of information on environmental protection values, especially non-market values, has contributed to wetland degradation in the Mekong River Delta. To fill this information gap, this study uses choice modelling to estimate the biodiversity protection values of Tram Chim National Park, a typical wetland ecosystem of the Delta. The estimated net social benefit of a proposed protection program ranges from USD0.52 million to USD1.84 million. This suggests that the program's implementation would improve social welfare. Some choice modelling issues, including the use of focus groups, aspects of questionnaire designs, and different survey modes, are discussed in the context of a developing country application.

Based on multiple rounds of household survey data collected in the year after the 1998 massive flooding in Bangladesh, we investigate the role of private transfers as a social coping response to natural disasters. We also explore the role of private transfers (gifts) as an informal insurance mechanism to smooth consumption in the face of an adverse covariate shock caused by the flooding. The level of transfers made is shown to be altruistically calibrated to the severity of flood exposure. As an indicator of the economic importance of such gifts, the amount of transfers received is shown to significantly contribute to reducing household consumption variability. We discuss the policy implications of our findings in a developing country context.

This essay offers a limited study of income sustainability for one oil-exporting country: Iraq. The nature of the study motivates a discussion of some theoretical issues concerning levels of non-renewable resource depletion and re-investment as well as related questions about the substitutability of man-made and natural capital and critical natural capital. The results of the study, which decomposes oil revenues into consumption and capital portions, suggest that the re-investment in physical capital offset the depletion of natural assets arising from oil extraction in the period under consideration. Because of the lack of data, a complete study of the capital balance is not feasible. Consequently the findings are tentative.

This paper discusses the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for the case of China's industrial SO2 emissions: both its reduced form and structural model are considered. The EKC curve for China's per capita industrial SO2 emissions predicts the turning point at 10,000 yuan (3,085 US$, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)). However, given China's fast population expansion, the decreasing trend in per capita emissions may well not be enough to bring about an immediate reduction in terms of total industrial SO2 emissions and emissions density. Using the structural EKC model makes it possible to reveal how various factors contribute to the industrial SO2 emissions density – namely, the three commonly known structural determinants and the marginal impact of international trade. International trade proves to have a two-fold impact: a significantly negative direct one and an indirect one that is dependent on the current capital–labour abundance ratio and on the income level of each province.

The influence of price, in view of macro-economic policy change and a set of other factors, on herd off-take rates from ranches in Kenya over a period of 17 years was assessed. An AR(1) equation, based on Nerlove's classical dynamic supply model, was derived and fitted to panel data using the Cochrane–Orcutt procedure. Pooling of data was done to circumvent data insufficiency, thereby improving the statistical power of the analysis. Results indicate that price change has had a significant effect on ranch herd off-take, and climatic factors also account for long-run off-take levels.