Timothy Swanson

Timothy Swanson is an American economics scholar specializing in environmental governance,

He is a professor in resource economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, currently the holder of the Andre Hoffmann Chair in Environmental Economics.

Work

His research covers the issues dealing with legal reform and institution building in the areas of environment, intellectual property and technology. He has advised the governments of China, India, and many international and development agencies.

His work on biotechnology and IPR has looked especially at how the gains from global agricultural innovation are distributed. His work on China has presented the role of regulation in environmental and industrial policy, and looked at various case studies of its impact. His work on water management has considered how water can be allocated between various activities in an equitable and efficient manner, and also how regulation of water can manage quality.

Another body of work looks at international environmental problems, and the use of international law and institutions in their management. In particular, Swanson has done much work in the area of global biodiversity and its management. And, Swanson has focused on the conservation of wildlife and how important government management is in conservation concerns.

In regard to international conservation, Swanson has argued that important issues in wildlife management are not a result of the tragedy of the commons as often thought, but that it lies in the failure of governments "to control access to wildlife and the land it occupies..., [in the] 'opportunity costs, alternative development priorities, governance problems and resources'." In this analysis, the ivory trade is a consequence of government decisions to not invest in the maintenance of elephant populations, not an unintended outcome.