Gunnar Knapp

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Gunnar Knapp Receives Marine Research Award

Gunnar Knapp, ISER’s director and a long-time fisheries economist, has received the 2016 Marine Research Award, from the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward. It is one of several Alaska Ocean Leadership Awards the center awards annually to those who contribute, in various ways, to awareness about and sustainability of Alaska’s marine resources. The Marine Research Award is given specifically for “an original breakthrough contribution to any field of scientific knowledge about Alaska’s oceans.” Dr. Knapp was recognized for the extensive research he has done over more than 25 years, looking at fisheries management and seafood markets in Alaska and elsewhere, and for the relationships he has built with people in all sectors of the seafood industry. The award is sponsored by Dr. Clarence Pautzke and Dr. Maureen McCrea.

  • 26 Jan 2016

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Gunnar Knapp to Retire as Director, While Continuing Research and Public Outreach

Gunnar Knapp, ISER’s director since 2013 and a professor of economics at ISER for 35 years, has announced he will retire from the University of Alaska Anchorage in June 2016. But after retiring he plans to work part-time with ISER, in particular continuing his research and public outreach to help Alaskans understand the big fiscal challenges the state faces. He will also continue his decades-long research on Alaska’s salmon industry and salmon markets, which has earned him an international reputation as a fisheries economist. 

  • 02 Dec 2015

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ISER Authors in Economic Development Journal

A recent issue of the Economic Development Journal is devoted to articles about Alaska’s economy and includes three by ISER faculty members Gunnar Knapp, Bob Loeffler, and Mouhcine Guettabi. The journal is published by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), and this issue was released ahead of IEDC’s annual conference, held in Anchorage in October. The articles by ISER faculty are now available on the ISER website, with permission of the publisher.

Resource Revenues and Fiscal Sustainability: Lessons of the Alaska Disconnect (PDF, 522.9KB), by Gunnar Knapp, ISER director and professor of economics

Mining and Sustainable Communities: A Case Study of the Red Dog Mine (PDF, 482KB), by Bob Loeffler, ISER visiting professor of public policy

The Determinants of Small Business Success in Alaska: A Focus on the Creative Class (PDF, 240.6KB), by Mouhcine Guettabi, ISER assistant professor of economics

Read more to find summaries of the articles.

  • 16 Nov 2015

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Moving Our Conversation Forward: Alaska’s Fiscal and Economic Future

ISER and Alaska Common Ground are sponsoring a free public forum on Alaska’s fiscal and economic future on September 19. But in advance of that forum, Gunnar Knapp, ISER’s director, and Cliff Groh, the chair of Alaska Common Ground, talked at ISER, previewing some of the material they plan to present. They encouraged those at the talk to ask questions and offer suggestions for improvement.


Download the handouts (PDF, 341KB) from this lunchtime talk.

  • 24 Aug 2015

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ISER Director Addresses Conference on Alaska's Fiscal Future

Gunnar Knapp, ISER's director, was the opening speaker at Governor Walker's conference, "Building a Sustainable Future: Conversation with Alaskans," held June 5 to 7 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Two former ISER directors, Vic Fischer and Scott Goldsmith, also took part in the conference, which brought together Alaskans from around the state to discuss Alaska's fiscal future. The conference was held at a time when a sudden drop in oil prices has slashed state oil revenues and left the budget for the coming year several billion dollars in the red.

Oil revenues have largely funded state government for more than 30 years. Dr. Knapp's presentation to the conference, An Introduction to Alaska Fiscal Facts and Choices, summarizes the fundamental fiscal problem the state government faces over time: "Alaska oil production is falling and our population is rising. It is hard for falling oil production to support most of state government for a growing population."

The presentation goes on to describe the fiscal choices for Alaskans, unless oil prices rise dramatically and unexpectedly: adjust our spending or how we pay for it. The state government has several practical options—cut spending more, raise new revenues, or use earnings of the Permanent Fund. As Dr. Knapp points out, "None of these options are easy or popular."

Download the update presentation (PDF, 2.1MB) or watch a video recording.  If you have questions, get in touch with Gunnar Knapp at Gunnar.Knapp@uaa.alaska.edu. ISER publications are solely the work of individual authors and should be attributed to them, not to ISER, the University of Alaska Anchorage, or the research sponsors.

  • 09 Jun 2015

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The Most Important Things to Understand About Alaska’s Fiscal Situation

The fall in oil prices has led to growing concern among Alaskans about the state's fiscal situation. To help Alaskans better understand this critical issue, Gunnar Knapp, ISER's director and a professor of economics, has been making a presentation to organizations around Alaska.

Download the full presentation (pdf, 1.7MB) or a summary (pdf, 467.7KB), The Most Important Things to Understand About Alaska's Fiscal Situation, by Gunnar Knapp. The presentation will be updated over time. If you have questions, get in touch with Gunnar Knapp at 907-786-7717 or Gunnar.Knapp@uaa.alaska.edu.

ISER publications are solely the work of individual authors and should be attributed to them, not to ISER, the University of Alaska Anchorage, or the research sponsors.

  • 30 Jan 2015

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January 7 talk at ISER. Challenges and Choices: Understanding Alaska's Fiscal Future

Falling oil prices over the past several months have added to the fiscal challenge Alaska’s state government already faced: North Slope oil production, which has largely paid for government operations since the 1970s, is less than a third of what it once was. Gunnar Knapp, ISER’s director, and Cliff Groh, the chair of Alaska Common Ground, are planning a series of presentations to help Alaskans understand the state’s fiscal situation. Their presentations at ISER are the first in that series, and they encourage the audience to ask questions and offer suggestions for improvement. Gunnar Knapp describes the fiscal situation, providing an overview of the state’s revenues, expenditures, and savings. Cliff Groh discusses the challenges that situation poses and outline the options for dealing with them. They do not advocate for any specific option or course of action, but rather they hope to help set the stage for an informed discussion among Alaskans.
  • 30 Dec 2014

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Research Matters No. 86. UAA Graduates: How Many Stay and Work in Alaska?

More and more people have been graduating from the University of Alaska Anchorage in the past decade. Do they stay in Alaska? What kinds of jobs do they have? How much do they earn?  A new analysis by ISER researchers Alexandra Hill, Gunnar Knapp, and Blake Steenhoven looks at those questions. They found that most graduates stay in Alaska at least five years after they graduate, they work throughout the economy, and by five years after they graduate their average earnings double. Around one-quarter of graduates do leave within a few years, but it looks as if they are no more likely than other Alaskans to leave the state. ISER researchers did this work in cooperation with UAA's Office of Institutional Research and the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Download the report, UAA Graduates: How Many Stay and Work in Alaska? by Alexandra Hill, Gunnar Knapp, and Blake Steenhoven. If you have questions, get in touch with Gunnar Knapp at 907-786-7717 (gunnar.knapp@uaa.alaska.edu) or Alexandra Hill at 907-786-5436 (lexi.hill@gmail.com).
  • 11 Dec 2014

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Research Matters No. 84: Health-Care Benefits: A Survey of Alaska Employers

A new report by Mouhcine Guettabi, Rosyland Frazier, and Gunnar Knapp of ISER analyzes the results of a survey of Alaska employers about what health-care benefits they offer employees. The Alaska Department of Labor conducted the survey, which covered businesses, local governments, and school districts statewide. The Alaska Health Care Commission contracted with the department and ISER for the work. The report finds, among other things, that two-thirds of Alaska businesses don't provide health-insurance, and the reason they cite most often is no surprise: it's too expensive. And although about a third of employees at Alaska firms work part-time or seasonally, very few of them carry employer-based insurance. Of those employees carrying insurance through their employers, 95% are full-time workers and only 5% are part-time or seasonal. Download the report, Alaska Employer Health-Care Benefits: A Survey of Alaska Employers (pdf, 1.9MB), by Mouhcine Guettabi, Rosyland Frazier, and Gunnar Knapp. A summary, Snapshot of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance in Alaska (pdf, 669.9KB), by the same authors, is also available. If you have questions, get in touch with Mouhcine Guettabi at mguettabi@alaska.edu or 907-786-5496.
  • 24 Oct 2014

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Incentives and Assumptions: Comparing Alaska's Oil Production Taxes

Alaskans will soon vote on whether to keep the state's new oil production tax, known as SB 21, that went into effect this year, or to go back to the previous tax, called Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES). A new analysis by Matthew Berman, professor of economics at ISER, looks broadly at how the new tax compares with the tax it replaced, examining not only how future state revenues might differ under the two systems, but also other differences—how the two compare with older production tax regimes and how government-industry relationships vary under the two systems. He finds that SB 21 has a number of drawbacks, compared with earlier systems, including its administrative complexity and its low effective tax rate for new oil—which means that the state's percentage share of the value of the oil is likely to decline over time. He identifies the one major problem with ACES as its high effective tax rates, which could hamper new investment. Overall, Dr. Berman concludes that the tax system in place before ACES—the Petroleum Profits Tax, replaced by ACES in 2007—is arguably a better fit for Alaska, because it had neither the high tax rates of ACES nor the administrative complexity of SB 21. Download the full analysis, Comparing Alaska's Oil Production Taxes: Incentives and Assumptions (PDF, 684KB). If you have questions, get in touch with Gunnar Knapp, ISER's director, at gpknapp@uaa.alaska.edu or 907-786-7717.
  • 07 Aug 2014
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