Do exports of renewable resources lead to resource depletion? Evidence from fisheries

Abstract

This paper shows that exports are an important cause of resource depletion. The paper uses detailed country–species–level fisheries data to estimate the causal effect of a fishery's exports on the collapse of the fishery. Identification is based on an export demand shock originating from Japan. The results reveal that an increase in logged exports by one standard deviation raises the probability of a fishery's collapse in the following year by 31 percentage points. Particularly fisheries without catch share programs collapse when exports surge.