Mahadev G. Bhat

Associate Professor

Joint with Department of Environmental Sciences

Telephone: (305) 348 - 1210

Email: bhatm

Home page: www.fiu.edu/~bhatm

PhD: University of Tennessee, 1991.

Joined the faculty in 1997.

Fields: Environmental economics.
My current research focuses on issues related to economics of coastal resource management, human dimension issues of the South Florida environment, and spatial economics of natural resources. The common theme that spans my research works is the application of ecological-economics approach to environmental problem solving. This approach drastically departs from the conventional economic approach and attempts to integrate ecological and economic principles into a holistic decision-making framework, in order to promote a more sustainable resource management. I use quantitative modeling tools such as spatial-temporal optimal control models, game-theoretic models, and econometric tools to simulate the dynamic interactions between different ecological and economic sub-systems of a resource or problem under investigation. Such a modeling approach provides policy makers with more objective insights into the policy making process.

Main Research Areas:

Economics and human dimension issues of the South Florida environment

  • Economic valuation of non-market attributes of the Florida Keys marine reserves

  • Economic and policy review of the Florida Biscayne Bay

  • Cost-benefit analysis of the Everglades restoration projects

  • Water pricing policies and the Everglades restoration plan

  • Public participation in ecosystem restoration planning and implementation

  • Tradable emission rights in the municipal sewer pretreatment program

Sustainable coastal resource management

  • Economics of sustainable fishery harvesting in South India

  • Dynamics of ecological-economic interaction between commercial aquaculture and agriculture

  • Sustainable commercial aquaculture in Trinidad

  • Non-market valuation of marine biodiversity

Natural resource economic modeling

  • Bioeconomic modeling

  • Spatial economics of natural resource harvesting

  • Game-theoretic decision models

  • Input-out models of natural resource-based regional economies

Selected Publications
Considering Aquacultural Externality in Coastal Land Allocation Decisions in India [with R. Bhatta], Environmental and Resource Economics, 29(1):1-20 (2004).

Institutions, Incentives and Resource Use Conflicts: The Case of Biscayne Bay, Florida [with A. Stamatiades], Population and Environment, 26(4) (2003).

Application of Non-Market Valuation to the Florida Keys Marine Reserve Management, Journal Environmental Management, 67(4):315-325 (2003).

On Biodiversity Access, Intellectual Property Rights, and Conservation, Ecological Economics, 29(3):391-403 (1999).

An Optimal Control Model for the Surface Runoff Contamination of a Large River Basin [with K. R. Fister and S. M. Lenhart], Natural Resource Modeling, 12(2):175-195 (1998).

Controlling Transboundary Wildlife Damage: Modeling under Alternative Management Scenarios [withR. G. Huffaker, and S. M. Lenhart], Ecological Modeling, 92:215-224 (1996).

The Flexible Planting Program: Divergent National and Regional Economic Impacts, International Journal of Public Administration, 18(1):149-165 (1995).

Private Property Rights and Forest Preservation in Karnataka Western Ghats, India: Reply [with R. G. Huffaker]" American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 75(2):496-498 (1993).

Application of Distributed Parameter Control Model in Wildlife Damage Control Management [with S.M. Lenhart,] Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences, 4(2):423-439 (1992).

Private Property Rights and Forest Preservation in Karnataka Western Ghats, India [with R. G. Huffaker] American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 73(2):375-87 (1991).