Research
Research overview
Coastal and marine resources constitute a significant component of the U.S. economy. Recreation, tourism, aquaculture, and commercial fisheries contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to U.S. GDP. The value of the goods and services generated from the oceans depend on the quality of these natural resources and thereby management actions. These resources also play a critical role, economically and culturally, to numerous rural, coastal communities. Resource-dependent communities often lack alternate sources of income leaving them vulnerable to a changing marine environment and resource management decisions. Policies affecting access to, or the quality of, these resources can engender broad socio-economic impacts in these communities.
My research uses microeconomics and applied econometric approaches to study how resource management decisions impact resource users, public preferences for resource policy and products, and how the seafood economy responds to change. Understanding the relationship between management actions and resource outcomes, and public preferences for these policies, is necessary to bolster the resilience of rural, resource-dependent coastal communities and maintain an important stream of U.S. income. My research can help resource managers make informed decisions - filling knowledge gaps in preferences and human behavior in the marine environment. I often work with coastal and marine resource managers to align my research with real-world policy questions.
Research questions
HOW MANAGEMENT DECISIONS IMPACT RESOURCE USERS
Resource policy has the potential to alter the coastal-marine landscape: changing who, where, when, and how people can access public resources; and the quality of these resources. While these policies may be motivated by ecological, economic, social, or political objectives, its application can generate significant economic and cultural ripples in rural, resource-dependent coastal communities. I study how coastal and marine resource users make decisions and are impacted by these policies. My work focuses on understanding the interactions between policy and resource user actions, included efforts by users to mitigate their impacts. This work is multi-disciplinary and includes insights from coastal and marine resource managers and users. Empirical applications have ranged from measuring the effect of coastal development of marine aquaculture on residential property values to the impacts of access restrictions on clam harvesters.
Peer-reviewed publications
Evans, K.S. and Q. Weninger (2014) "Information sharing and cooperative search in fisheries." Environmental and Resource Economics. 58(3): 353-372.
Evans, K.S., K. Athearn, X. Chen, K.P. Bell, and T. Johnson. (2016) "Measuring the impact of pollution closures on commercial shellfish harvest: the case of soft-shell clams in Machias Bay, Maine." Ocean & Coastal Management. 130: 196-204.
Evans, K.S., X. Chen, and C.A. Robichaud. (2017) "A hedonic analysis of the impact of marine aquaculture on coastal housing prices in Maine." Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 46(2): 242-267.
Herrera, G.E., K.S. Evans, and L.Y. Lewis. (2017) "Aligning economic and ecological priorities: conflicts, complementarities, and regulatory frictions. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 46(2): 186-205.
Kamiski, A., K.P. Bell, C.L. Noblet, and K.S. Evans. (2017) "An economic evaluation of coastal beach safety information." Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 46(2): 365-387.
Some research in progress
Impact of switch to rights-based fishery management [West Coast groundfish trawl fishery]
Impact of nearshore marine development [Development of marine aquaculture on coastal homeowners in Maine]
Adaptation strategies of fishers [Environmental closures in the Maine soft-shell clam fishery]
Unintended cross-fishery impacts [Gulf of Maine northern shrimp fishery]
Information campaigns on seafood consumption during pregnancy [DHHS baby nutrition survey]
PUBLIC PREFERENCES FOR RESOURCE POLICY AND PRODUCTS
Understanding public preferences is essential for designing effective resource policy. For example, consider the recent interest in expanding U.S. aquaculture production. For expansion to be successful in the long run, policy-makers need information on (i) whether U.S. consumers would accept an increase in aquaculture-labeled seafood products (relative to wild-capture alternatives), (ii) whether U.S. coastal users (e.g., residents and recreationists) would accept increased development of marine aquaculture, as opposed to land-based aquaculture production or other marine uses, and (iii) what factor influence this acceptance. I use non-market valuation approaches to estimate these types of public preferences. Applications have ranged from measuring preferences for competing coastal uses to preferences for renewable energy production and energy efficiency.
Peer-review publications
Evans, K.S., X. Chen, and C.A. Robichaud. (2017) "A hedonic analysis of the impact of marine aquaculture on coastal housing prices in Maine." Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 46(2): 242-267.
Evans, K.S., C.L. Noblet, E. Fox, K.P. Bell, and A. Kaminski. (2017) ``Public acceptance of coastal zone management efforts: the role of citizen preferences in the allocation of funds.'' Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 46(2): 268-295.
Dumortier, J., K.S. Evans, C. Grebitus, and P.A. Martin. (2017) ``The influence of trust and attitudes on the purchase decision of organic produce.'' Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing. 29(1): 46-69.
Noblet, C.L., M.F. Teisl, K.S. Evans, M.W. Anderson, S.K. McCoy and E. Cervone. (2015) ``Public preferences for investments in renewable energy production and energy efficiency.'' Energy Policy. 87: 177-186.
Brayden, C., C.L. Noblet, K.S. Evans, and L. Rickard. (2018) ``Consumer preferences for seafood attributes of wild harvested and farm-raised products.'' Aquaculture Economics and Management. 22(3): 342-361.
Some research in progress
Stated preferences for coastal development [Coastal homeowner coastal development choice experiment]
Revealed preferences for coastal aquaculture development [Development of marine aquaculture on coastal homeowners in Maine]
Stated preferences for seafood product labels [Choice experiment of US seafood consumers]
Relative important of local versus regional factors on "first price" of clams [New England market for soft-shell clams]
