Sand Theft Externality
Sand Theft Externality is the gap between the private value created by sand use and the public cost imposed when sand is removed from a beach, river, or island system. Sand heists and property rights in the Caribbean (Summer School) uses Jamaica to show how stolen sand can make resort landscapes more valuable while the origin beach loses environmental and community value.
The concept extends Externality Internalization because the episode explicitly asks who pays for beach protection. Damian King says tourist or resort taxes could fund protection, but the source also notes that tourism interests can pressure governments when tourism is a large share of GDP.
Key Claims
- Sand theft shifts erosion, habitat damage, lost public access, and policing costs away from the buyer or tourist.
- Externality pricing is harder when the harmed resource is difficult to monitor and the beneficiary is economically powerful.
- Settlements without admission of guilt can compensate some owners without producing a clear public account of the environmental harm.
Connections
- Jamaica, Michael Hilton, and Pascal Peduzzi - source case and global frame.
- Sand Scarcity, Illegal Sand Mining, Tourism Resource Protection Funding, and Small-State Enforcement Capacity - adjacent concepts.
- Externality Internalization and Tourism-Dependent Small Economy - broader policy frames.