Philip Watson

Watson is a natural resource and regional development economist whose research focuses on the role of natural resources in the economic health of communities and evidence based economic development planning.

Watson is a teaching and research faculty member and is jointly appointed in the Bioregional Planning Graduate Program and affiliated with the Environmental Science Graduate Program.

Watson has worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Park Service, National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and possesses a quantitative background in Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modeling, input-output analysis, benefit-cost analysis and spatial econometrics.

• Benson, C., P. Watson, R. Taylor, and S. Hollenhorst (2012). Who Visits a National Park and What do They Get Out of It?: A Joint Visitor Cluster Analysis and Travel Cost Model for Yellowstone National Park. Environmental Management (Submitted May 2012).
• Brown, N. and P. Watson (2012). What can a comprehensive plan really tell us about a region?: A cluster analysis of county comprehensive plans in Idaho. Western Economics Forum (forthcoming).
• Plant, W., J. Guenthner, M. Thornton, A. Johnson, C. McIntosh, and P. Watson (2012). Economic Impacts of Increasing the Minimum Size for Idaho Fresh Potatoes. Journal of Food Distribution and Research (forthcoming).
• Watson, P., K. Castelin, P. Salant, and J. Wulfhorst (2012). Estimating the Impacts of a Reduction in the Foreign-Born Labor Supply on a State Economy: A Nested CGE Analysis of the Idaho Economy. Review of Regional Studies 42(1):51-74.
• Watson, P. and T. Johnson (2012). Federal Fishery Policy and the Geographic Distribution of Commercial Fish Landings: Insights from the 2003 Federal Groundfish Permit Buyback. Marine Resource Economics 27:289-301.
• Cooke, S. and P. Watson, 2011 “A Comparison of Regional Export Enhancement and Import Substitution Economic Development Strategies.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, 41(1): 1-15.