Umeå Economic Studies, Department of Economics, Umeå University
No 611:
Mixing Oil and Water. Studies of the Namibian Economy
Jesper Stage ()
Abstract: This thesis consists of four papers studying economic
aspects of natural resource and environmental management in Namibia.
Paper [I] analyses changes in Namibian energy use patterns between 1980 and
1998. The study finds that, unlike their counterparts in many other
developing countries where energy use has been studied, Namibian energy
users appear to have been quite flexible in changing to energy-saving
technologies and to technologies using different energy sources altogether.
One explanation for this difference may be that Namibia has had relatively
high energy prices and has had high taxes on oil-based fuels, which may
have made Namibian energy users more interested in potential energy
savings. Paper [I] has been published in the South African Journal of
Economics (link: http://www.saje.co.za/saje/default.asp) (Stage, J. (2002).
Structural shifts in Namibian energy use: An input-output approach)
Paper [II] studies variables affecting property pricing in the township
areas of Windhoek, Namibias capital city. Plots close to a garbage dump
sell at substantial discounts, while plots close to a recreation area sell
at premium prices. These results suggest that environmental quality may be
more important for households in township areas than has previously been
believed. Neglecting issues of environmental quality in town planning for
township areas may thus be a serious omission. Paper [II] has been
published in Environment and Development Economics (link:
EQUNIQ=1062057331&REQSESS=6438487&118200REQEVENT=&REQINT1=148368&REQAUTH=0)
(Humavindu, M. N. and Stage, J. (2003). Hedonic pricing in Windhoek
townships)
Paper [III] uses Namibian farm price data to study the
impact of groundwater access on farm profitability. Potentially,
groundwater can function both as an extra source of water in areas with low
rainfall and as a buffer source of water in areas where rainfall is higher
but variable. If groundwater mainly functions as a buffer source of water
in high-rainfall areas, it could be replaced by various means of water
storage fairly easily. Providing extra water by other means in low-rainfall
areas, on the other hand, is likely to be prohibitively expensive. The
study does not provide clear-cut results, suggesting that on precautionary
principles one should assume that groundwater will be difficult to replace
with other water sources. Paper [III] has been published in Development
Southern Africa (link: http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?jid=B8E&db=buh)
(Stage, J. and Williams, R. (2003). Implicit water pricing in Namibian
farmland markets)
Paper [IV] studies optimal allocation between
commercial and recreational fishing for one of Namibias fish species, the
kob. The biological dynamics of the kob are modelled using an age-class
model with age-specific mortalities, in order to capture the fact that the
two fisheries target different age classes. The length of the planning
horizon is crucial for the results: If a short planning horizon is used,
the results indicate that a large share of the catches should be allocated
to commercial fishing. With a longer planning horizon, however, the higher
profitability of recreational angling leads to the conclusion that it would
be preferable to limit commercial fishing in order to permit kob stocks to
recover and improve angling success. Paper [IV] will appear in Natural
Resource Modeling (link: http://rmmc.eas.asu.edu/nrm/nrm.html) (Stage, J.
(2004): Optimal harvesting in an age-class model with age-specific
mortalities)
Keywords: Namibia; energy use; structural decomposition analysis; hedonic pricing; townships; groundwater use; fisheries; bioeconomic modelling; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: O13; O18; Q21; Q22; Q43; Q48; R31; (follow links to similar papers)
126 pages, September 9, 2003, Revised November 19, 2004
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