Contact
Phone:(972-4) 824-9069
Fax:    (972-4) 824-0059
E-mail: shechter@econ.haifa.ac.il

The Rabin Social Sciences Building,
University of Haifa
Mount Carmel, 31905
ISREAL
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Professional Activities and Offices

  University of Haifa Administrative Positions

  • Rector (Provost) (1994-1997)
  • Executive Committee, Board of Governors (1984-87, 1992-94)
  • President Search Committee, Board of Governors (1994)
  • University Honorary Doctoral Committee (1992-94)
  • Teaching & Curriculum Committee, School of Education (1992-94)
  • Steering Committee, School of Social Work (1992-94)
  • Steering Committee, University Master Plan (1992-93)
  • Academic Appointments & Promotions committee of the Senate (1990-92)
  • Steering Committee, Faculty of Law (1989-90)
  • University Control committee (1988-90)
  • Executive Management Committee of the University (1984-87)
  • Executive Committee, Inter-University Computer Center (1984-85)
  • Dean of Research (1983-87)
  • Standing Committee of the Senate (1983-87, 1992-4)
  • Board of Governors (1983-85; 1990-)
  • Chairperson, Faculty Association (1983-84)
  • Chairperson, University Computer Committee (1983-84)
  • Chairperson, Department of Economics (1977-1979)
  Scholarly and professional offices and activities (recent)
  • Invited speaker, The KAS - BGU - MFA Round Table: Israel and the European Union: Toward an Ever Closer Partnership. Workshop II: Climate Change, April 2008, Brussels
  • Editorial Board, Environment and Development Economics
  • Israel's Representative, Management committee, EU COST Action E-45 (Forest Externalities).
  • Steering Committee, Environmental Policy Center, Jerusalem Institute, 2005-
  • Country Representative, European Association of Environmental & Resource Economists
  • Organizing Committee, Socio-economic Impacts of Climate Change in the Mediterranean Region: An International Graduate Course funded by the EU Concerted Action "Research in Global Change in the Mediterranean: A Regional Network" (RICAMARE), at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste, Italy), Nov. 12-16, 2001
  • Associate Editor, Environmental and Resource Economics Journal
  • Editorial Board, The International Yearbook of Environmental and Resource Economics, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers
  • Steering Committee - International Exhibition "Environmental Quality 2000", Ministry of the Environment
  • Israeli Delegate, Sub-Committee "Improving the Socio-Economic Knowledge Base," European Commission - Research Dir4ectorate-General, Directorate F (Human Potential and Mobility)
  • Review Editor for the IPCC WG-III 3rd Assessment Report
  • National Delegate, Management Committee, CANTIQUE: Concerted Action on Non-Technical Measures and Their Impacts on Air Quality and Emissions, European Commission, DG VII (Transport)
  • Advisory Council, Center for Environmental Policy, Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
  • Program Committee, 1998 World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists, Venice, June 1998
  • Program Committee, International Conference on "Economic Benefits from Investment in Environmental Quality Improvements at the Firm Level," organized jointly by the Ministries of the Environment, Finance and Trade & Industry. March 1998
  • Academic Council, Tel-Hai Academic Regional College
  • Chairperson, Committee on the Establishment of a National University Registration Center, Committee of Universities Presidents and Rectors and the Planning & Budgeting Committee for Higher Education
  • Advisory Committee, Rosenberg International Forum On Water Resources (Founded by the University of California and the Bank of America)
  • Public Commission on Setting Universities' Tuition
  • Scientific Panel, ENRICH/START Workshop on Global Change in the Mediterranean Region, Toledo, Spain, September, 1996
  • Expert Steering Committee on Sustainable Development, Ministry of the Environment, Israel
  • Organizing Committee, Meeting on Environmental Sciences, July 1995, Leipzig, German-Israel Foundation for Scientific Research & Development
  • Chairperson, Committee on Regional Research & Development Centers, Ministry of Science, Israel, 1995-99
  • Organizer, Public Symposia on "Could and Should We Harness Market Forces to Efficiently Manage Our Environmental Resources?," jointly with the Israel Center For Social and Economic Progress, Tel-Aviv, January, 1994
  • Organizer, International Workshop on "Economic Aspects of Water Resource Management in the Mediterranean: Quantity and Quality Issues," with a grant from the ENI - Enrico Mattei Foundation, Milan, October, 1993
  • Organizer, International Workshop on "Sharing Water Resources in the Middle East," with a grant from the Bertha von-Suttner Research Program of the Jewish-Arab Center at the University of Haifa, Kibbutz Kfar-Blum, Israel, December, 1992
  • Organizer, International Symposium on "Environmental Resources in National Income Accounting," with a grant from Ministry of Science and Technology and the Danish Ministry of Education, Kibbutz Ein-Gedi, Israel, December, 1992
  • Steering Committee on Recycling, Ministry of the Environment, 1993-4
  • Steering Committee on Environmental Epidemiology, Ministry of Health, 1992-4
  • Environmental Standards Experts' Committee, Ministry of the Environment, 1985-92
  • Editorial Board, Journal of the Environmental and Resource Economics, 1988-1998
  • International correspondent, Association of Environmental & Resource Economists (USA)
  • International correspondent, European Association of Environmental & Resource Economists
  • Scientific Advisory Committee, Israel Nature Reserves Authority
  • Scientific Advisory Council, Water Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture
  • Committee on Global Change, Ministry of the Environment
  • European Science Foundation, Program on Environment, Science & Society, Task Force on "Valuation, Risk and Uncertainty."
  • Rapporteur, International Conference on an Agenda of Science for Environment and Development into the 21st Century (ASCEND 21), International Council of Scientific Unions, Vienna, November, 1991
  • Guest co-editor, Special Issue of Environmental & Resource Economics: Economic Incentives in Environmental Regulation
  • Guest editor, Special Issue of Resource and Energy Economics Journal: Economic Aspects of Water Sharing in the Middle East
  • Editorial Board, "Environmental Quality" (Hebrew quarterly)
  Community activities and offices (recent)
  • Chairman, Executive Committee, Friends of Kadoorie High-School Assocaition, Lower Galilee.
  • Chairman, Board of Directors, City of Haifa Museums (Arts Museum, Japanese Museum, Maritime Museum)
  • Board of Directors, Nature Protection Society
  • National Management Committee, Council for Beautiful Israel
  • Chairman, "Magshim Israel" Prize Committee, Council for Beautiful Israel
  • Eco-Peace - Friends of the Earth Middle East
  • Executive Management Committee, The Friends of the Haifa Museums
  • "DESHE" - Think Tank on Building and the Preservation of Open Space Values, Nature Protection Society
  • Chairman, Platform Committee on Environment, Labor Candidate for Mayor of Haifa
  • Chairman, Council For Beautiful Israel, Haifa and Northern Region
  • Planning Committee, Nature Protection Society and Council For Beautiful Israel, Haifa Branch
  • Who's Who in Israel & Jewish Personalities Abroad, 21st English ed., 1990-91 and onwards
  Past academic and visiting positions
  • Lecturer and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Industrial and Management Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel (1968-77)
  • Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C. (1973-75)
  • Consultant-in-Residence, Resources For the Future, Washington D.C. (1981-82)
  • Visiting Scholar, Department of Regional Science, University of Pennsylvania (1989)
  • Visiting Scholar, Royal Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark (1989-90)
  • Visiting Scholar, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University (1998)
  • Visiting Fellow, Department of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia (1998)
  • Founder and Head, Natural Resource & Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa (1985-94)
  • Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning (Regional and Urban Studies Program), Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (1980-92)
  Professional affiliations
  • American Economics Association
  • Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (USA)
  • Israel Society for Ecology and Environmental Quality Sciences
  • European Association of Resource and Environmental Economists
  • Israeli Economic Association
  Fellowships
  • 1979 - D.A.A.D. Fellowship (Germany)
  • 1986 - Royal Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark, (Israel-Denmark scholar exchange fellowship)
  • 1991 - Visiting Scholar (University Fellowship), Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
  Recent International Activities
  • Program Committee, 1998 World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists, Venice
  • Advisory Committee, Rosenberg International Forum On Water Resources (Founded by the University of California and the Bank of America)
  • Scientific Panel, ENRICH/START Workshop on Global Change in the Mediterranean Region, Toledo, Spain, 1996
  • Organizer, International Workshop on "Economic Aspects of Water Resource Management in the Mediterranean: Quantity and Quality Issues," with a grant from the ENI - Enrico Mattei Foundation, Milan, October, 1993
  • Organizer, International Workshop on "Sharing Water Resources in the Middle East," with a grant from the Bertha von-Suttner Research Program of the Jewish-Arab Center at the University of Haifa, Kibbutz Kfar-Blum, Israel, December, 1992
  • Organizer, International Symposium on "Environmental Resources in National Income Accounting," with a grant from Ministry of Science and Technology and the Danish Ministry of Education, Kibbutz Ein-Gedi, Israel, December, 1992
  • International correspondent, Association of Environmental & Resource Economists (USA)
  • International correspondent, European Association of Environmental & Resource Economists
  • European Science Foundation, Program on Environment, Science & Society, Task Force on "Valuation, Risk and Uncertainty"
  • Rapporteur, International Conference on an Agenda of Science for Environment and Development into the 21st Century (ASCEND 21), International Council of Scientific Unions, Vienna, November, 1991
  Research grants (recent)
  • Climate Change and Impact Research: the Mediterranean Environment (CIRCE) IP Consortium): The Socioeconomic Workpackage. 6th Framework Program, EU.
  • The Economics of Biodiversity Protection. In Israel's National Plan For Biodiversity Protection. Ministry of Environmental Protection.
  • Impact of Climate Change on Israeli Agriculture. Ministry of Environmental Protection.
  • Vulnerability of Water Resources due to Climate Change in Eastern Mediterranean Ecosystems: An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Management (GLOWA) (TA University, Bar-Ilan University, Vulcani Institute, Haifa University, Tel-Hai College and several German Scientific Institutions). German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Israeli Ministry of Science, Culture and Sports
  • Sustainable Treatment and Removal of Solid Waste - An Interuniversity Research Program (Technion, Hebrew University, Vulcani Institute) - Economics module. Ministry of Science, Culture and Sports
  • Strategies for Sustainable Development of Traditional Agricultural Landscapes: The Case of Bet-Netufa Valley in Lower Galilee. Ministry of the Environment
  • Research In Global Change: A MediterrAnean REgional Network (RICAMARE): ENRICH/INDO-DC Concerted Action. Project Leaders: Medias-France and University of Madrid
  • Sustainable Agricultural Use of Aquifers in Southern Europe: Integration Between Agricultural and Water Management Policies (SAGA): EC (FAIR) Concerted Action. Project Leader: Fonazione ENI Enrico Mattei (Milan)
  • Economic Analyses of the Environmental Impact of Alternative Transportation Solutions for the Tel-Aviv Metropolitan Region (Belfer Center for Energy Research, Ministry of Energy and National Infrastructure and the Ministry of the Environment)
  • A Biological and Economic Assessment of the Potential Economic Losses due to Irreversible Damage to Biodiversity: Application to Coastal Nature Reserves (Ministry of the Environment)
  • A Policy Paper on Reducing Greenhouse Gasses in Israel (Jointly with the Neeman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science & Technology at the Technion) (Ministry of the Environment)
  • Options for Municipal Waste Recycling Policy (Ministry of the Environment and the S. Neeman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science & Technology)
  • Economic Analysis of the Recreational Benefits from the Hula Valley Re-flooding Project (Jewish National Fund)
  • Economic Efficiency Considerations in Pollution Abatement in Energy Production: Administrative Approaches vs. Economic Incentives (Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure)
  • Valuation of Nonuse and Existence Benefits in Resource Damage Assessment (Ministry of Science & Technology; Ministry of the Environment)
  • Economic & Environmental Impacts of Accelerated Development: the Case of Kiryat-Shmoneh (Ministry of Science and Arts)
  • Economic & Environmental Analyses of Clean Energy Options (Israel Electric Company)
  • Environmental Impact Analysis of the Haifa Bay Area National Plan (Ministry of the Interior)
  • Economic Analysis of the Demand for Residential and Industrial Land Uses in the Haifa Metropolitan Area (Ministry of Housing)
  • Sharing Scarce Fresh Water Resources in the Mediterranean Basin: An Economic Perspective (European Science Foundation and the Bertha von-Suttner Research Program)
  • Environment Policy: Standards vs. Economic Incentives (Sapir Center for Development, Tel-Aviv University)
  • Economic Valuation of Environmental Damage in Israel: Ground Water Pollution (The Water Commission)
  • Glass Bottle Recycling Policy for Israel (Ministry of the Environment)
  • A Software Package for Air-shed Management (Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure)
  • Economic Analysis of the Feasibility of Private Supplementary Health Services in Public Health Facilities (Treasury and Health Ministries and Rambam Medical Center)
  • The Supply of Physician Services for Privately Provided Health?Care Services at Public Hospitals (Kovens Center for Health Management Studies, Tel-Aviv University)
  • Economic Costs of Changing Ambient Air Pollution Levels From Industrial Sources in the Haifa Region (Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure)
  • Benefits of Morbidity Reduction From Air Pollution Control (US-Israel Binational Science Foundation)
  • Economic Evaluation of Using Recycled Municipal Wastewater for Household Uses (The Water Authority)