The Economics of Shark Nets: Safety and Tourism in Australia

Abstract

This paper examines whether shark nets in Australia reduce shark attacks and whether shark-related risk affects tourism outcomes. Using a long-run beach-month panel for New South Wales and Queensland, I estimate the effect of net presence on shark attacks using fixed effects, difference-in-differences, event study, and Poisson models. I then analyze state-month tourism data to study how shark risk relates to occupancy and accommodation capacity. Shark nets have small and statistically insignificant effects on attacks across linear models, and event study estimates show no clear decline. Tourism results suggest little effect on short-run demand but potential longer-run impacts on capacity.