EVIDENCE OF THE EFFECTS OF WATER QUALITY ON RESIDENTIAL LAND PRICES

We use hedonic techniques to show that water quality has a significant effect on property values along the Chesapeake Bay. Mindful of the limitations of using hedonic methods for welfare analysis, we calculate the potential benefits from an illustrative (but limited) water quality improvement. Past hedonic studies have almost entirely ignored the potential for omitted variables bias -- the possibility that pollution sources, in addition to emitting undesirable substances, are likely to be unpleasant neighbors. We discuss the implications of this oversight, and we provide an application that addresses the problem head-on.water quality, hedonic models, residential land prices, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Behavioral Modeling and Fisheries Management

Because of the extreme uncertainty in fisheries biology, efforts to determine a stock-recruitment relationship have not been entirely successful. In the face of this certainty, this paper argues for a change in focus for fisheries economics from bioeconomic optimization toward goals which are more modest and more easily achievable. In particular, a satisficing approach to management is advocated, whereby efforts are made to reallocate some porportion of effort from overutilized to underutilized fisheries, with no attempt to determine the optimum. In order to achieve such a solution efficiently, managers must accurately predict the response of fishermen to public policy. This paper reports on a study which develops a discrete choice model to predict fishermen's supply response. Fishermen are shown to respond to economic incentives of expected returns and variability of returns, but only after these incentives surpass a substantial threshold.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

PRESERVATION OR DEVELOPMENT: COMPETING USES OVER THE FUTURE OF FARMLAND IN URBANIZING AREAS

Land use, farmland preservation, competing risks models, multinomial logit models, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The emergence of conflict-free, ethical, and Fair Trade mineral supply chain certification systems : a brief introduction

This introduction briefly examines the emerging field of ‘conflict-free’, ‘fair’, and ‘transparently sourced and traded’ minerals and the dynamics of their supply chains. Linking the growing prevalence of Corporate Social Responsibility norms in the global mining industry with increasing awareness of reputational risks associated with mineral extraction and trading that are associated with environmental impacts and armed conflict, the paper provides an overview of the Kimberley Process for rough diamonds and the various supply chain initiatives that it has inspired over the past 15 years. It distinguishes between conflict-free supply chains; efforts to embrace Fair Trade in artisanal mineral supply chains; and a third group of independently-organized interventions that lay claim to ‘ethical’ or ‘fair’ labels for often very specific instances. Finally, it provides a brief overview of the papers included in the Special Section