Valuing remnant vegetation in Central Queensland using choice modelling

In the Desert Uplands region of Central Queensland, many pastoralists are clearing vegetation in order to improve cattle grazing production. A choice modelling study was undertaken to provide estimates of the benefits of retaining remnant vegetation that are appropriate for inclusion in a cost benefit analysis of tighter clearing restrictions. Attributes included in the choice model were reductions in the population size of non‐threatened species, the number of endangered species lost to the region, and changes in regional income and employment. A nested logit model was used to model the data in order to avoid violations of the independence of irrelevant alternatives condition. The estimated benefits are reported for several tree clearing policy regimes that are more stringent than those currently applied.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Choice modelling: assessing the environmental values of water supply options

Three criticisms of the contingent valuation method (CVM) are considered in this article. One technique that would appear to answer such criticisms is choice modelling (CM). CM permits value estimates for different goods sharing a common set of attributes to be pieced together using the results of a single multinomial (conditional) logit model. The CM approach to environmental value assessment is illustrated in the context of a consumer‐based assessment of future water supply options in the Australian Capital Territory. CM is found to provide a flexible and cost‐effective method for estimating use and passive use values, particularly when several alternative proposals need to be considered

Ethical Design of Stated Preference Questionnaires: Results from a Split-Sample Test

Designers of stated preference studies have placed an emphasis in recent years on ensuring that questionnaires are defensible, and that all ‘hypothetical’ elements are removed. A potential problem with this emphasis is that it can unwittingly increase the hypothetical nature of the survey as well as necessitating the use of ethically questionable statements. An alternative approach was recommended by Morrison (forthcoming) that is ethically better and potentially less susceptible to hypothetical bias. This approach has been used in several studies, with the results indicating that designing questionnaires in an ethically neutral manner does not automatically lead to poorer quality models. In this paper we present the results of a more rigorous split sample test to test the appropriateness of using this approach. Minor evidence of strategic behaviour by a small proportion of the respondents (about 7%) was identified; however the results indicate that welfare estimates were not affected by designing questionnaires in this way

Determining the community value of peri-urban land: The significance of environmental amenity and production alternatives

Expanding urban areas such as Queensland’s Sunshine coast face growing land use conflicts among urban, agricultural and conservation uses. Private allocation decisions often exclude non-use value of environmental benefits leading to both socially undesirable and economically inefficient outcomes. We present the results of a choice modelling study in the Sunshine coast to estimate community values for peri-urban land in production and conservation. We examine the implications of the value estimates in the optimal allocation of land for sugarcane on the basis of total economic value from all land uses including the preservation of unique and threatened vegetation