| This dissertation investigates how recent advances in the availability of geospatial data can be utilized to improve natural resources management. Taking Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data and fisheries from the Gulf of Mexico and the North East Atlantic region as empirical settings, it develops novel approaches to better model commercial fishing behavior and to analyze policy interventions. In Chapter I, I focus on discrete choice models and spatial aggregation issues. Combining simulated geospatial data from Monte Carlo experiments with real VMS data from fishing vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, I show how models’ results depend on the choice of the spatial scale of analysis and on data spatial heterogeneity. I illustrate the implications for policy... |
