The Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse: Evidence from the Decline of Vultures in India
中文摘要
科学证据表明，我们正经历一场由人类活动导致的大规模物种灭绝。然而，由于关于丧失单个物种所造成损害的证据稀缺，保护资源的分配十分困难。本文研究由一种止痛药专利到期所引发的印度秃鹫崩溃。我们的结果表明，秃鹫——作为高效的食腐动物，能够从环境中清除尸体——的功能性灭绝，因对卫生造成巨大负面冲击，使人类死亡率上升超过4%。我们量化得出损害为每年694亿美元。这些结果表明，保护秃鹫这类关键物种具有高回报。（JEL I12, O13, O15, Q53, Q57, Q58）
Abstract
Scientific evidence has documented we are undergoing a mass extinction of species, caused by human activity. However, allocating conservation resources is difficult due to scarce evidence on damages from losing individual species. This paper studies the collapse of vultures in India, triggered by the expiry of a patent on a painkiller. Our results suggest the functional extinction of vultures—efficient scavengers that removed carcasses from the environment—increased human mortality by over 4 percent because of a large negative shock to sanitation. We quantify damages at $69.4 billion per year. These results suggest high returns to conserving keystone species such as vultures. (JEL I12, O13, O15, Q53, Q57, Q58)