International Trade and Endangered Species

Dr. Tilman Klumpp 
University of Alberta
Department of Economics
 

Date: Friday, September 17, 2021
Time: 3:30 - 5:00pm MST
Location: 640 General Services Building
Zoom Link: https://ualberta-ca.zoom.us/j/91801318623?pwd=SU9DS0tIUFZkcVg0bnUzZElHcjdGUT09

Abstract

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans international trade in species threatened with extinction.  We investigate the effects of these bans on species' endangerment, as assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  Our dataset includes all mammalian and reptilian species for which IUCN has recorded an endangerment status in one or more years between 1982 and 2018.  Using double-difference and triple-difference estimation methods, we find that CITES bans lead to subsequent improvements in mammalian species' IUCN status, relative to species in which trade was not banned.  These effects are primarily due to improvements in the status of commercially targeted species.  On the other hand, CITES bans lead to subsequent deteriorations in reptilian species' IUCN status.  We find that major spikes in trade volume occurred in anticipation of the bans on reptilian species but not in anticipation of those on mammalian species.  One implication of our findings is that CITES trade bans should be implemented at endangerment levels at which anticipatory trade spikes are less likely to cause irreparable harm.