Chinese agricultural water resource utilisation in the 21st century

With increasing industrialisation and urbanisation, more and more of China’s scarce water resources are being transferred from low-value agricultural use to high-value industrial and domestic uses. The challenge now facing decision makers is how to resolve the conflict between increasing food demand and decreasing water supply without undermining the growth of cities and the industrial sector. Along with water shortages, water use inefficiencies are apparent. An analysis of some causes of these inefficiencies is provided. They include attenuated property rights, artificially low water prices, lack of user participation in irrigation district management, fragmented government management, and lack of a compensating mechanism between upstream and downstream users. It is concluded, against the background of a transitional economy, that the lack of economic incentives in the allocation of water is the principal reason why shortage and waste coexist in Chinese irrigated agriculture. Owing to failures in both markets and governments, it is argued that water resources should be allocated through a quasi-market

Estimating the costs of atmospheric carbon reductions in Mexico

Trading in carbon emissions is a means of ensuring that supplies with the lowest marginal costs of emissions reduction are commissioned first. To analyse the potential for Mexican suppliers to participate in an emissions trading market, the relative cost-effectiveness of a carbon sequestration project and carbon abatement project is assessed. The marginal costs of emission reductions for each project are estimated and compared using standardised data. The results show that the carbon sequestration project has lower marginal costs for carbon emissions reductions than the technology-based abatement. Factors such as timescale, discounting implementation costs, transaction costs, and technical assumptions are considered in this comparison. The high transaction costs to set up carbon sequestration projects and weak institutional capacity to monitor and enforce agreements are relevant factors. Even though the carbon sequestration project is more cost-effective than the renewable energy power plant, both projects may allow Mexican suppliers to enter a potential international carbon emissions trading market depending on demand and supply conditions and the rules of the market

Decision-making in a Social Welfare Context

This paper presents analysis of the decision-making strategies adopted by respondents when confronted with potential environmental policy options that include changes in both aggregate levels of welfare and equity in distribution. The analysis is based on the results of a choice experiment designed to estimate intergenerational distribution preferences. Non-linear welfare functions are employed within a conventional conditional logit framework. The heuristics employed by respondents in the stated preference context provide valuable insights into the application of welfare principles by respondents in determining trade-offs between the potential changes in the well-being of different generations.Intergenerational Equity, Distribution, Choice Modelling

Modelling heterogeneity in response behaviour towards a sequence of discrete choice questions: a latent class approach

There is a growing body of evidence in the non-market valuation literature suggesting that responses to a sequence of discrete choice questions tend to violate the assumptions typically made by analysts regarding independence of responses and stability of preferences. Heuristics such as value learning and strategic misrepresentation have been offered as explanations for these results. While a few studies have tested these heuristics as competing hypotheses, none have investigated the possibility that each explains the response behaviour of a subgroup of the population. In this paper, we make a contribution towards addressing this research gap by presenting an equality-constrained latent class model designed to estimate the proportion of respondents employing each of the proposed heuristics. We demonstrate the model on binary and multinomial choice data sources and find three distinct types of response behaviour. The results suggest that accounting for heterogeneity in response behaviour may be a better way forward than attempting to identify a single heuristic to explain the behaviour of all respondents

Households’ Willingness to Pay for Undergrounding Electricity and Telecommunications Wires

Underground telecommunications and low-voltage electricity networks have several advantages over overhead networks including reliability of supply, safety and improved visual amenity. The economic viability of replacing existing overhead networks with new underground networks depends on the value of these benefits to households, but no complete value estimates are available in the literature. This paper represents a contribution towards addressing this research gap. A stated choice survey is used to estimate willingness-to-pay for undergrounding in established residential areas in Canberra. Average willingness-to-pay is at least $6,838 per household and there is significant variation in preferences over the population. The results suggest that benefits would be highest in areas with higher household income and older residents where visual amenity, safety, tree trimming or restrictions on the use of yard space are of concern.Stated preference; willingness-to-pay; undergrounding; supply reliability

Synthetic Routes to a Library of Novel Methionine Synthase Inhibitors

Fungal infections are of continuous concern, especially with regard to immunocompromised patients. In an effort to develop new potential anti-fungal agents, we have begun synthesizing a library of potential inhibitors of the fungal Methionine Synthase (MetSyn) enzyme. Key differences between the B12-independant fungal MetSyn enzyme and the B12-dependant mammalian form can allow for an antifungal drug to be developed to exclusively bind the fungal enzyme and inhibit fungal growth while leaving the host (patient) unaffected. We are currently exploring the synthesis of various pterin and deazaguanine-based molecules as these mimic folate, an essential substrate for MetSyn function. We have begun testing these new molecules for activity in a fungal growth assay, as well as a fluorescent assay for monitoring MetSyn activity

A comparison of responses to single and repeated discrete choice questions

According to neoclassical economic theory, a stated preference elicitation format comprising a single binary choice between the status quo and one alternative is incentive compatible under certain conditions. Formats typically used in choice experiments comprising a sequence of discrete choice questions do not hold this property. In this paper, the effect on stated preferences of expanding the number of binary choice tasks per respondent from one to four is tested using a split sample treatment in an attribute-based survey relating to the undergrounding of overhead electricity and telecommunications wires. We find evidence to suggest that presenting multiple choice tasks per respondent decreases estimates of expected willingness to pay. Preferences stated in the first of a sequence of choice tasks are not significantly different from those stated in the incentive compatible single binary choice task, but, in subsequent choice tasks, responses are influenced by cost levels observed in past questions. Three behavioural explanations can be advanced – weak strategic misrepresentation, reference point revision and cost-driven value learning. The evidence is contrary to the standard assumption of truthful response with stable preferences.Choice experiment; willingness-to-pay; incentive compatibility; order effects; undergrounding

Modelling heterogeneity in response behaviour towards a sequence of discrete choice questions: a latent class approach

There is a growing body of evidence in the non-market valuation literature suggesting that responses to a sequence of discrete choice questions tend to violate the assumptions typically made by analysts regarding independence of responses and stability of preferences. Heuristics such as value learning and strategic misrepresentation have been offered as explanations for these results. While a few studies have tested these heuristics as competing hypotheses, none have investigated the possibility that each explains the response behaviour of a subgroup of the population. In this paper, we make a contribution towards addressing this research gap by presenting an equality-constrained latent class model designed to estimate the proportion of respondents employing each of the proposed heuristics. We demonstrate the model on binary and multinomial choice data sources and find three distinct types of response behaviour. The results suggest that accounting for heterogeneity in response behaviour may be a better way forward than attempting to identify a single heuristic to explain the behaviour of all respondents.Choice experiment; latent class; ordering effects; strategic response; willingness-to-pay

Multi-criteria analysis: “Good Enough” for government work?

Multi-criteria analysis (including Triple Bottom Line approaches) is fundamentally flawed in principle, and is open to abuse by special-interest groups. Its increased use poses a significant risk to the quality of policy formulation by Australian governments

Willingness to Pay for Cleaning up Road Dust in Vientiane

This paper sets out to estimate residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for cleaning up road dust in urban areas of Vientiane, Laos. The analysis relies on the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and seeks to identify the factors affecting WTP. Based on a sample of 6,590 respondents, the results show a mean WTP of 7069 kip (USD0.86) per person per month. This amounts to 4.7% of residents’ average monthly income. Education and income have a statistically positive impact on WTP. Conversely, the number of children in family has a statistically negative impact on WTP. These results offer information to policy makers dealing with the dust problem on urban roads in Vientiane.Key words: Road dust; Contingent valuation method (CVM); Willingness to pay; Vientian