All in the same boat: externalities, interdependence and the commons of Venice lagoon

Venice Lagoon has a complex relationship with the many economic activities it hosts: tourism, oil refineries, a logistics hub, agriculture, households, and fisheries heavily affect the condition of the lagoon. At the same time, they all strongly rely on the environmental services it provides. Against a situation where each economic sector is simultaneously cause and victim of such “disturbances”, this papers reviews the contribution of economic theory to envisioning a governance structure for Venice Lagoon capable of acknowledging the mutual interdependencies between the activities it hosts. The paper presents and critically reflects upon two competing perspectives: externalities and interdependence. It then introduces the specifics of the Venice Lagoon case, and reflects on the prescriptions derived by both concepts. Finally, it evaluates the core traits of the current regulatory framework in the light of the theoretical discussion.