Gary D. Libecap is Emeritus Distinguished Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and Economics Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also is Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA., He was Erskine Professor at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2019 and Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions, Cambridge University, Economics Faculty and Saint Catharine's College, 2010-11. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from the University of Montana and served in the US Air Force, 1969-1973. His research focuses on the role of property rights institutions in addressing the open access losses for natural resources such as fisheries and freshwater, as well as the role of water markets in encouraging efficient use and allocation. He also has examined the conditions for successful collective action to address open access losses. The Society for Institutional and Organizational Economics (SIOE) in 2021 recognized this research record with the Elinor Ostrom “Life Time Achievement Award.” He is a Senior Fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). Previously, he was Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

 
 

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