The Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics offers a postdoctoral scholarship within the project “Strategic Real Options with Applications to the Use, Pricing and Trading of Quota for Fishing Rights”. The scholarship is full-time for two years with a starting date of May 1st, 2025, or by agreement.

Project description:
Unregulated fisheries suffer from the so-called ‘tragedy of the commons’, the problem that if many agents have access to a finite, valuable resource, they will tend to overuse it, and economic values will be eroded. To avoid this, fishing quotas are installed, governed by what is considered to be the economic and sustainable optimal catch quota. In many cases, these quotas can be traded as financial assets, but there are many questions:

1. How do quota markets for fishing rights change the incentive structure and operation of fisheries?
2. Which principles should be applied to price fishing quotas consistently with financial theory?
3. How can fishing quota markets help individual agents in the fishing sector to better deal with the substantial risk and uncertainties in this business?
4. In the presence of risk and uncertainty, the classical literature underestimates the values of fishing quota due to ignoring the option value of the quota, but by how much?
5. In the context of multi-species and biodiversity what can be the contribution of fishing quota trade or other relevant contracts to support sustainability?
6. In a more general context of strategic competition, how can contracts be optimally designed such that the problem of option value erosion can be eliminated as much as possible? And how can these contracts be implemented within a fisheries-specific context?

More generally, recognizing that fishing quotas have option-like characteristics and that there is a significant level of strategic competition in the fisheries sector, the project will also examine a more general but abstract setup of real options under strategic competition, drawing on classical findings by Back and Paulsen (2009) and Grenadier (2002) and the literature developed around these classic contributions.

The scholarship holder will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in research issues close to the project leader, Professor Christian Ewald, at Umeå University, and co-leader Professor Bart Taub, University of Glasgow. The postdoctoral fellow will be given the opportunity to be involved in all parts of the project.

The postdoctoral fellow will be located at the Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics in Umeå and will be financed by the Kempe Foundations (JCSMK24-0135). The tax-free scholarship will be SEK 750,000 for two years, which means SEK 375,000 per year.

Umeå offers excellent working and living conditions. The city is young and located right next to a large river. It is surrounded by forests and lakes and lies close by the sea. In the vicinity there are plenty of opportunities for both indoor and outdoor activities.

For further information and instructions on how to apply, see: https://umustipendie.varbi.com/what:job/jobID:785518/