Dr Viktoria Kahui
Department of Economics
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Economics and the environment. Perhaps not the most obvious combination, but Dr Viktoria Kahui spends her days figuring out how economics can be applied to a wide variety of environmental challenges.
Originally from Germany, Viktoria completed her undergraduate studies in England and embarked on a year-long backpacking trip that certainly opened her eyes. “I was struck by the amazing natural environment different places around the world offer, but was also concerned with the effect of uncontrolled tourism and human development impacting upon the environment. I was particularly fascinated with the ocean, the importance of local fishing for small communities, and the causes of commercial overexploitation of coastal fisheries that directly impact local communities.”
After completing a Masters in Environmental and Resource Economics at the University College London, Dr Kahui decided to make her interest in the ocean into a career as a fisheries economist.
With a PhD from Otago, experience working for the Ministry of Fisheries in Wellington dealing with Maori fishing issues, and two years working with ecologists and biologists in Norway, Dr Kahui has an interesting perspective on economics and the environment.
On Research
“I like to keep my research as diverse and relevant to policy as possible. Currently I am working on a number of projects, including modelling the long term effects of bottom trawling on deep sea fish stocks, working on the economic incentives at play in paua diving, and looking at the economic benefits of restoring coastal forests using Maori traditional knowledge.”
On Teaching – 400-level natural resource economics paper
“I encourage students to think like a natural economist by applying the underlying theory to current issues. For example, many think the decline in the African elephant population is due to poaching, habitat loss and conflict with humans. However, a natural economist would look at the fundamental causes - the strong incentive generated by the price of ivory far exceeding the price of poaching an elephant, and the slow growth rate of the elephant population compared to the social discount rate, leaving the population vulnerable to extinction.”
On Economics
“Economics can offer fundamental insights into what type of mechanisms are at work and what type of policies are most effective in dealing with natural resource exploitation. It is a challenge to work interdisciplinary but is absolutely essential if we are to deal with the rising number of global environmental challenges.”