DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Gelcich, Stefan"

Browsing by Author "Gelcich, Stefan"

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A comparison of mixed logit and latent class models to estimate market segments for seafood faced with ocean acidification
(2022) Campos-Requena, Nelyda; Fernández, Francisco; Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe; Barrientos, Manuel; Gelcich, Stefan; Ponce Oliva, Roberto
This study uses a choice experiment to characterize market segments (consumer preferences heterogeneity) based on three attributes of seafood (mussels) that are affected by ocean acidification: shell appearance, meat color, and nutritional composition. Using a sample of 1,257 individuals from two main cities in Chile, we estimate both the Mixed Logit model and the Latent Class model. We use the individual-specific posterior (ISP) parameters ’distribution to categorize consumers’ heterogeneity based on the signs and intensity (i.e., like or dislike dimension) of these ISPs. We compare the pattern of preferences and whether people are classified within the same preference pattern in both models. In general, we observed that the models identify a different number of segments with various patterns of preferences. Moreover, the models classify the same people into different groups. Since the segmentation is sensitive to the chosen model, we discuss strengths, inconsistencies, biases, and best practices regarding methodological approaches to establishing market segments in choice experiments and future ocean acidification conditions
Comanagement of small-scale fisheries and ecosystem services
(2019) Gelcich, Stefan; Martínez Harms, Maria José; Tapia Lewin, Sebastián; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Ruano Chamorro, Cristina
Marine ecosystem services are in global decline, which requires new transformational changes in governance to cope with multiple anthropogenic stressors. We perform a systematic literature review of the biodiversity and ecosystem services outcomes of a governance transformation toward comanagement through the allocation of territorial user rights to artisanal fisher associations (TURFs) in Chile. We synthesize the implications of more than 25 years of establishing a TURF policy over ecosystem services. Results show TURFs sustain biodiversity and all typologies of ecosystem services when they are well enforced. Research on provisioning services is most prevalent, however cultural services have been gaining traction with studies assessing the role of leadership, sanctions, and social capital in determining TURF outcomes. The results suggest that TURFs can play an important role in creating social and ecological enabling conditions for local stewardship. While this is encouraging, there is a bias toward positive results and few studies address negative consequences of TURFs aimed at identifying constraints for further development. The review shows that there has been a continuous transition toward interdisciplinary social–ecological research. Research on TURFs faced with drivers of global change and uncertainty are urgently needed, in order to anticipate unintended outcomes and adapt accordingly.
Dynamic Interactions among Boundaries and the Expansion of Sustainable Aquaculture
(2017) Broitman, Bernardo R.; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Gelcich, Stefan; Lardies, Marco A. L.; Vargas, Cristian A.; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Widdicombe, Stephen; Birchenough, Silvana N. R.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world, generating more than half of the global seafood harvested today. These type of activities are crucial to provide key nutritional components for humanity in the future as populations worldwide are increasing and the demands for securing food resources are imperative. Multiple socio-ecological factors such as weak regulations and focus on maximizing production limit production and threaten the sustainable growth of aquaculture. We present a novel policy framework to evaluate and pursue growth in aquaculture considering four boundaries: biological productivity, environmental constraints to that productivity, policy that inhibits or promotes different kinds of aquaculture, and social preferences that determine aquaculture markets. Using a range of scenarios, we have shown that sustainable growth in aquaculture requires simultaneous consideration of all four boundaries and the potential interactions between all of these options. Our proposed conceptual framework shows that to further expand the boundaries of aquaculture production, the policy focus must remain flexible to enable the adaptation of from single-boundary approaches. Our approach takes account of the current boundaries, helping to consider the adaptive policy, which is deemed as a necessary tool for considering the dynamic interactions among boundaries, thus addressing the problem of defining the evolving limits of sustainable aquaculture.
Effects of experience with access regimes on stewardship behaviors of small-scale fishers
(2021) Rivera-Hechem, María Ignacia; Guzmán, Ricardo A.; Rodríguez-Sickert, Carlos; Gelcich, Stefan
Governance regimes that assign exclusive access to support collective action are increas- ingly promoted to manage common-pool resources under the premise that they foster environmental stewardship. However, experimental evidence linked to existing policies that support this premise is lacking. Overlapping access policies in small-scale fisheries provide a unique opportunity to test the effects of access regimes on users’ stewardship behaviors. We performed a lab-in-the-field experiment to assess how fishers’ previous experience with access regimes relates to compliance and peer enforcement (n = 120). Fishers’ compliance and peer-enforcement decisions were compared in a common-pool-resource game. Treatments differed in framing to represent exclusive access and pseudo-open access regimes, both of which fishers face in real life. To contrast behavior in the game with real-life observations, we compared fishers’ associations that have shown relatively high and low management performance under exclusive access policies. Compliance and peer enforcement were higher under the exclusive access treatment than under the pseudo-open access treatment only for fishers’ associations with high management performance in real life. Behaviors in the game reflected differences between associations in real life. Our results support previous research on ocean governance by experimentally assessing the role of access regimes in determining users’ stewardship and suggest potential mechanisms for stewardship internalization.
Estimating discount rates for environmental goods: Are People’s responses inadequate to frequency of payments?
(2021) Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Carrasco, Moisés; Barrientos, Manuel; Gelcich, Stefan; Ponce Oliva, Roberto
Most stated preference studies estimate discount rates using a split-sample approach. Each sample faces a different payment frequency (for instance, 1, 5, 10) together with a randomly assigned bid vector; both the frequency of payments and the bid are fixed for a specific individual. This paper evaluates whether allowing respondents to choose their preferred payment frequency affects the estimated discount rate. We use data from a contingent valuation survey of a network of marine reserves and estimate discount rates using both an exogenous and endogenous approach. The former calculates the mean of the willingness to pay (WTP) for each sample and then finds the discount rate that makes the present value of each payment frequency equivalent. The latter estimates theWTP and the discount rate jointly. Results show that allowing people to choose the payment schedule significantly reduces the implicit discount rate. We observed the highest reductions in discount rates when we used all the information available from the valuation questions to bound theWTP distribution. Our analysis suggests that the exogenous approach would not be recommended for testing the adequacy of people’s responses to the frequency of payments.
Exploring Dual Discount Rates for Ecosystem Services: Evidence from a Marine Protected Area Network
(2019) Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Hernández, José Ignacio; Gelcich, Stefan; Carrasco, Moisés; Quiroga, Miguel
This paper presents a joint estimation of the willingness to pay for conservation activities aimed at preserving the flow of ecosystem services provided by a marine protected area network and respondents’ personal discount rate using a contingent valuation survey. This work contributes to the literature on identifying people’s discount rates by moving beyond the use of the exponential schemes to include a hyperbolic discount rate through variations in the timing and duration of the provision of public goods. We present evidence that different discounting processes are associated with different programs, which depend on the type of ecosystem services under protection, including seed banks and biodiversity conservation for tourism activities. The results show the importance of using decreasing discounting (hyperbolic discounting) for projects aimed at preserving biodiversity for tourism activities. Using exponential discounting undervalues the net benefits associated with tourism by 23%, thus affecting projects’ cost-benefit analyses. These results are crucial for informing the design of marine conservation programs by clarifying the relationships among conservation project goals, the discounting used, and the relevant lifetime project assessment.
Exploring External Validity of Common Pool Resource Experiments: Insights from Artisanal Benthic Fisheries in Chile
(2013) Gelcich, Stefan; Guzmán, Ricardo Andrés; Rodríguez-Sickert, Carlos; Castilla, Juan Carlos; Cárdenas, Juan Camilo
We explore the external validity of a common pool resource (CPR) laboratory experiment. The experimental subjects were artisanal fishers who exploit benthic resources on the coast of Chile. A first set of subjects was recruited from fishers’ unions that comanage their resources through territorial user right areas. These unions differ in their performance, which is largely the outcome of the cooperative efforts of their members. A second set of subjects was recruited among nonunionized fishers who do not participate in the comanagement system. They fish exclusively in open-access areas and barely cooperate in their fishing. Membership of a union and the union’s performance in comanagement were related to the subjects’ behavior in the laboratory. In the CPR experiment, members of high-performance unions showed high cooperation with each other, while members of low-performance unions cooperated significantly less. Nonunionized fishers did not cooperate at all. We also explored how the weak external enforcement of an individual quota can trigger changes in behavior, what we refer to as internalizing the norm. Only the members of high-performance unions internalized the norm. They refrained from overfishing until the end of the game, even though the sanction for exceeding the quota was not strong enough to be dissuasive from the point of view of pure self-interest. This study provided insight on the experimental analysis of cooperation in artisanal fisheries and suggested that the capacity to internalize norms is important to the sustainable exploitation of artisanal fisheries common pool resources.
Exploring the adaptive capacity of the mussel mariculture industry in Chile
(2020) San Martin, Valeska A.; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Roberto, Ponce; Ximena Paz, Lerdón; Rivera, Antonella; Serramalera, Leticia; Gelcich, Stefan
Societies have adapted to climate and environmental variability throughout history. However, projected climate change poses multiple risks to mariculture because of the increased frequency of environmental threats that lie outside the realm of present day experience. Adaptive capacity evaluated in this study is a characteristic that would reflect mariculture industries ability to anticipate and respond to these changes, and to minimize, cope with, and recover from the consequences and take advantage of new opportunities arising from change. Drawing on a survey to 90 mussel mariculture companies in Chiloe-Chile, we have characterized the way the industry has adapted and recovered from specific stressors in productive capacity, namely; reduced mussel growth rates and reduced larval supply. We additionally assess determinants of the mussel industry's willingness to invest in building capacity to anticipate changes through analysing mussel aquaculture companies' assets to draw upon in times of need (capital; access to credit), the flexibility to change strategies, the companies' perception of the industry's social organization to act collectively (social capital), and their response to hypothetical scenarios regarding shocks in productive capacity. Results show heterogeneity in production decisions when facing environmental stressors. Results also show that the industry adapts in heterogeneous ways and that financial assets and social capital drive willingness to invest in adaptive capacity. Understanding past adaptation strategies and the willingness of the industry to invest in anticipating stressors allows us to begin exploring the consequences of new stressors. Importantly, as Chile and other countries are developing adaptation plans to face the multiple stressors of climate change, information about stakeholders' existing adaptation strategies and their determinants is becoming a critical bottleneck to inform these processes and assure they are in line with stakeholder needs and interest. While we use the Chilean mussel industry as a working example, the approach presented can inform other countries/regions wishing to explore the adaptive capacity of their aquaculture sectors.
Exploring typologies of artisanal mussel seed producers in southern Chile
(2018) Fernández, Francisco J.; Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Figueroa, Yanina; Gelcich, Stefan; Dresdner, Jorge
Aquaculture is one of the most dynamic food production systems in the world, with a fast expansion, especially in developing countries. Among this sector, the Chilean mussel industry has experienced a substantial increase, turning Chile into one of the leading producers and global exporters of mussels. Among the different links in the mussel production chain, the natural seed collection conducted by artisanal fishers of southern Chile has been a fundamental pillar for the development of the industry. Often, this sub-sector has been thought of as a homogeneous group, with similar responses to different challenges and public policies. However, this is likely an unrealistic assumption, making it necessary to understand the complexity of the local context and the heterogeneity of producer groups within the territory. Using surveys and multivariate statistical analysis, we explore typologies of artisanal mussel seed producers in southern Chile. The results proposed four seed producer entrepreneur typologies associated mainly with socioeconomic features and their interactions with the environment. These variables explain heterogeneity in organizational structures and equipment. Spatial location and environmental conditions are important factors that directly or indirectly influence the fishers' investment in equipment and sales contracts. Our findings suggest that seed producer heterogeneity should be considered when designing, implementing, and providing policy incentives to support sustainable mussel aquaculture. Our results identified groups of fishers whose entrepreneurship capacity is vulnerable to environmental and market changes, informing future needs for technical assistance and support.
Gaps, biases, and future directions in research on the impacts of anthropogenic land-use change on aquatic ecosystems: a topic-based bibliometric analysis
(2021) Muñoz, Manuel; Fernández, Francisco J.; Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Gelcich, Stefan
Anthropogenic land use change (ALUC) satisfies human needs but also impacts aquatic ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems are intrinsically linked with terrestrial landscapes, an association that is already recognized as a key factor to address future research and effective governance. However, the complexity and range of the impact of ALUC in aquatic ecosystems have been fundamental challenges and have implicitly routed the analysis to particular segments, drivers, management, or effects of the theme. In this study, we present an attempt to frame the subject in a broader context through a topic-based bibliometric analysis. Our aim is to identify possible biases and gaps in the current scientific literature and detect the main topics that have characterized the theme. Our results show an unequal distribution of articles by country when we analyzed the authors’ affiliation and also a slight increase in contributions from social and economic disciplines, although they are still underrepresented. Moreover, we distinguish topics whose prevalence seems to change, especially those topics where the use of scenario analysis and multistressors are considered. We discuss the main biases and gaps revealed by our results, concluding that future studies on the impact of ALUC on aquatic ecosystems should better integrate social and economic disciplines and expand geographic frontiers
Linking social preferences and ocean acidifcation impacts in mussel aquaculture
(2019) San Martin, Valeska A.; Gelcich, Stefan; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Hernández, José I.; Lagos, Nelson A.; Birchenough, Silvana N.R.; Vargas, Cristian A.
Ocean Acidifcation (OA) has become one of the most studied global stressors in marine science during the last ffteen years. Despite the variety of studies on the biological efects of OA with marine commercial species, estimations of these impacts over consumers’ preferences have not been studied in detail, compromising our ability to undertake an assessment of market and economic impacts resulting from OA at local scales. Here, we use a novel and interdisciplinary approach to fll this gap. We experimentally test the impact of OA on commercially relevant physical and nutritional attributes of mussels, and then we use economic discrete choice models to assess the marginal efects of these impacts over consumers’ preferences and wellbeing. Results showed that attributes, which were signifcantly afected by OA, are also those preferred by consumers. Consumers are willing to pay on average 52% less for mussels with evidences of OA and are willing to increase the price they pay to avoid negative changes in attributes due to OA. The interdisciplinary approach developed here, complements research conducted on OA by efectively informing how OA economic impacts can be analyzed under the lens of marginal changes in market price and consumer’ welfare. Thereby, linking global phenomena to consumers’ wellbeing, and shifting the focus of OA impacts to assess the efects of local vulnerabilities in a wider context of people and businesses.
Mapping Firms' adaptive profiles: The role of experiences and risk perception in the aquaculture industry
(2023) Fernández , Francisco J.; Muñoz, Manuel; Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe; Gelcich, Stefan
The experiences of aquacultural firms regarding past environmental events and their present risk perceptions of environmental and social threats are key factors in understanding their adaptive response. This study aims to understand marine aquaculture firms' adaptive behavior considering firms' heterogeneity and the relationship between past experiences, present perceptions, and willingness to invest in adaptation. We identify different adaptation behavior profiles among the aquacultural firms, showing heterogeneity regarding firms' past responses to perturbations, risk perceptions of social and environmental factors, and their future behavior regarding their willingness to invest in adaptation. We conclude that an adaptive profile, based not only on economic and productive features but also on their social behavior regarding environmental threats, influences future adaptive behavior. Implications for management practice and policy are discussed.
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Renewable Energies: Research Trends, Gaps and the Challenge of Improving Participation
(2021) Estévez, Rodrigo A.; Espinoza, Valeria; Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Gelcich, Stefan
The global increase in renewable energy initiatives has been followed by the need to include the social impact of any project as a core element. Significant challenges for renewable energy development include uncertainty in assessing social impacts at local scales, participation and social acceptance. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches have been widely used in energy planning to address these challenges. This article reviews how social criteria and participation mechanisms have been incorporated into decision-making processes for renewable energy projects. A total of 184 articles were analyzed. A total of 490 indicators that estimated social impacts were identified and organized into nine criteria: employment, social acceptance, social development, health impact, governance, visual impact, knowledge and awareness, cultural value and social justice. Most research included analytical hierarchy process methodologies, and the articles were geographically concentrated in Asia and Europe. Most articles included a participative component (92.3%), and the majority of them were based on expert consultation (75.4%). Of the articles that exclusively considered experts, almost 40% did not provide any description of the expert elicitation process. Results revealed advances in the use of MCDA but highlighted important challenges—related to improving expert consultation methodologies and broadening the participation of stakeholders—when developing renewable energy initiatives and policies.
Ocean Acidification, Consumers’ Preferences, and Market Adaptation Strategies in the Mussel Aquaculture Industry
(2019) Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; San Martin, Valeska A.; Vargas, Cristian A.; Gelcich, Stefan; González, Pablo S.; Hernández, José Ignacio
Ocean acidification (OA) is one of the largest emerging and significant environmental threats for the aquaculture industry, jeopardizing its role as an alternative for supporting food security. Moreover, market conditions, characterized by price volatility and low value-added products, could exacerbate the industry’s vulnerability to OA. We use a literature review on the biological consequences of OA over marine commercial species attributes to inform the empirical assessment of consumers’ preferences for those attributes affected by OA, and consumers’ responses to a set of market adaptation strategies suggested by the industry. We found that OA will have a negative impact on consumers’ welfare due to the effects on commercial attributes of aquaculture products. However, the main concerns for the industry are the market conditions. Thus, the industry’s current adaptation strategies are focused on increasing their market share by offering new product assortments (with more value-added), regardless of the effect of OA on consumers’ welfare. Despite this fact, the industry’s strategies could eventually contribute to cope with OA since some specific segments of the market are willing to pay for new product assortments. This new market composition highlights the role of public institutions’ reputation in issues related to food safety.
Stakeholder perceptions of enhancement opportunities in the Chilean small and medium scale mussel aquaculture industry
(2017) Rivera, Antonella; Unibazo, Javier; Leon, Paula; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Ponce Oliva, Roberto; Mansur, Lidia; Gelcich, Stefan
The Chilean mussel aquaculture industry is a prime example of a thriving industry. However, the industry growth rate, aquaculture concessions and market prices have stabilized signalling a shift in the industry from exponential growth to, if handled correctly, economic stability. Here we used perception research, an efficient tool to inform on the implementation of management strategies, to provide policy makers with the tools necessary for the development of strategies that will aid in the sustainability of the industry through its current shift. We assessed the perceptions of four main small and medium scale stakeholder groups in the mussel industry (i.e. seed collectors, growing centres, processing plants and service providers) on the challenges, obstacles and improvements in the industry. This information was divided into five main domains, namely: (1) finance, (2) human resources, (3) knowledge, (4) management and policy and, (5) technology and infrastructure, and was used to determine the gaps and opportunities that impact the biologic and economic productivity of the industry. Stakeholders displayed significantly different perceptions on the challenges, progress and obstacles they face, suggesting that segregation among groups exists. Despite this heterogeneity, there are areas that can provide the greatest enhancement opportunities for the industry; these are mainly based within the seed collectors group and the collection and transfer of local and scientific knowledge among all stakeholders. Notwithstanding the aforementioned areas, the Chilean mussel aquaculture industry perceives it is working towards overcoming its current obstacles and displays important progress in the incorporation of technology and infrastructure, finance and management domains. Our results indicate that with targeted interventions a promising future for the mussel aquaculture industry in Chile is achievable. Statement of interest: This study shows how perception research can be used to determine the gaps and enhancement opportunities in the productivity of developing aquaculture industries.
The Role of Information in Changing Tourists Behavioral Preferences at the Humboldt Penguin Reserve in Northern Chile
(2016) Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Gelcich, Stefan; Lerdon, Ximena Paz; Montealegre Bustos, Felipe
With considerable focus on ecotourism's potential to contribute to conservation, it is increasingly important to understand the implications of ecological information in triggering sustainability-relevant attitudes and actions. This study assesses whether people who have ecological information regarding the negative impact of their recreational behavior on penguins' stress will choose to remain farther away from the penguins to avoid that impact although this option will reduce the personal benefits of their tourism experience. To answer this question, we use a choice experiment with three attributes related to "Humboldt penguin watching": (1) price of the experience, (2) distance at which penguins could be observed, and (3) penguin density. In addition, we used two treatments: with and without ecological information. We used a pooled data (with and without information) mixed logit model to identify the effect of providing or not providing information. Using a chi-square test, we first tested whether people in the sample with information chose different alternatives than those individuals without information. Furthermore, we evaluate whether the coefficient associated with the attributes of the mixed logit model, and therefore people's behavioral preferences, differs among samples. Results show that, irrespective of socio-demographic differences, visitors with information were more prone to select alternatives that reduce penguin stress, despite more educated, wealthier, and older people tend to increase their welfare when they choose being closer to the penguins. People without information never choose the alternative which results in a reduction of penguin stress. Ecological information is shown to reverse this trend, in fact, tourists perceived (on average) a welfare loss of CL$1099 (US$1.9) if he/she is too close to the penguins once information has been granted. These results are encouraging because they support the claim that well-defined educational and informational campaigns can have important effects on the way in which people behave in areas of interest for conservation. Granting ecological information can become an important tool to encourage conservation behavior, particularly in areas where support for enforcement is weak. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Browsing by Author "Gelcich, Stefan"

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