Gary Libecap

Gary Don Libecap (born 1946) is an American economist who is currently an emeritus professor in the Department of Economics and the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

[1][2] Libecap’s specialty is environmental economics, and his research focuses on the role of property rights institutions in addressing the open access losses for natural resources such as fisheries and freshwater, as well as the role of water markets in encouraging efficient use and allocation.

[3] He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, lectured widely, and written articles that have appeared in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

[2] Libecap is a research associate at the NBER, and was a fellow at the Hoover Institution from 2005 to 2020.

[2][9] He is also a senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana.