Constructing a Preference-oriented Index of Environmental Quality - A welfare theoretical generalization on the concept of environmental indices -

Environmental Valuation

Respondent incentives in contingent valuation: The role of reciprocity

--public expenditures,environmental valuation,cost-benefit analysis,contingent valuation method,respondent incentives,reciprocity,reforestation

Rationality Concepts in Environmental Valuation

Survey based valuation techniques like the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) rely particularly on the premise of respondents’ rationality when answering willingness to pay (WTP) questions. Results of CVM surveys have repeatedly put this fundamental assumption into question. This study adopts a more realistic view of rationality accounting for respondents’ limited capacities to process information. Based on cognitive psychology a technique to detect and analyze the bounds of rationality inherent in WTP statements is developed. Using an empirical example, the influence of bounded rationality on the validity of CVM results is analyzed. It is shown that individual differences in information processing play a major role. From these results recommendations for future survey design are developed

Drinking and protecting - a market approach to the preservation of cork oak landscapes

With the availability of new techniques to close wine bottles avoiding the risk of ?corky? taste the tradition of closing wine bottles with cork stoppers is on the retreat. As a consequence the Mediterranea cork oak forests with their rich biodiversity are endangered since their cultivation is not profitable anymore. This paper explores the viability of a market approach to the preservation of these ecologically valuable landscapes. In an internet-based Contingent Valuation survey we assess wine consumers' willingness to pay a higher price for wine bottles closed with high-quality cork stoppers instead of buying wine with alternative stoppers in order to preserve the cork oak landscapes. We find that though many wine consumers have experience with tainted wine they are, nevertheless, willing to buy wine with (highquality) cork stoppers at higher prices. Their average WTP is, however, not sufficient to cover the additional costs of these stoppers. Thus, we propose a financing mix of market returns and government subsidies for preserving the cork oaks. As a precondition for this market approach to be successful bottles with high-quality cork stoppers must be clearly identifiable in the shops, and consumers must be informed about the ecological consequences of supporting the cork production

The influence of ethnicity and culture on the valuation of environmental improvements : results from a CVM study in Southwest China

The provision of environmental goods by government creates social benefits which might vary between citizen groups with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. These differences as well as the overall extent of benefits should be analysed before the implementation of public projects in order to consider not only the efficiency aspects of such a project but also its distributional effects. In Southwest China we are facing a rapid deforestation for the development of rubber cultivation and at the same time find an ethnically highly diverse population. This Contingent Valuation study tries to assess the short-term and long-term benefits accruing from a public reforestation programme in Xishuangbanna and their distribution among different ethnic groups living in that region. The results show that different ethnic groups value short-term and future benefits of reforestation differently and that these differences can be explained by the different cultural and historical backgrounds of these ethnic groups

The influence of ethnicity and culture on the valuation of environmental improvements : results from a CVM study in Southwest China

The provision of environmental goods by government creates social benefits which might vary between citizen groups with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. These differences as well as the overall extent of benefits should be analysed before the implementation of public projects in order to consider not only the efficiency aspects of such a project but also its distributional effects. In Southwest China we are facing a rapid deforestation for the development of rubber cultivation and at the same time find an ethnically highly diverse population. This Contingent Valuation study tries to assess the short-term and long-term benefits accruing from a public reforestation programme in Xishuangbanna and their distribution among different ethnic groups living in that region. The results show that different ethnic groups value short-term and future benefits of reforestation differently and that these differences can be explained by the different cultural and historical backgrounds of these ethnic groups

The ecological price of getting rich in a green desert : a contingent valuation study in rural Southwest China

The cultivation of rubber trees in Xishuangbanna Prefecture in China?s Yunnan Province has triggered an unprecedented economic development but it is also associated with severe environmental problems. Rubber plantations are encroaching the indigenous rainforests at a large scale and a high speed in Xishuangbanna. Many rare plant and animal species are endangered by this development, the natural water management is disturbed and even the microclimate in this region has changed over the past years. The present study aims at an assessment of these environmental costs of the economic progress in Xishuangbanna. To this end a Contingent Valuation survey is conducted to elicit local residents? willingness to pay for a reforestation program that converts existing rubber plantations back into forest. It is shown that though local people's awareness of the environmental problems caused by increasing rubber plantation is quite high their willingness to pay in order to change things is rather low. It seems that from the perspective of local residents the economic advantages of rubber cultivation outweigh the resulting environmental threats. Another explanation of the low willingness to pay stated in this survey might be the fact that many respondents consider taxes and fees already too high in China so that they are not willing to make any further contributions to whatever purpose

Respondent incentives in contingent valuation : the role of reciprocity

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Contingent Valuation of Mining Land Reclamation in East Germany

Large parts of East German landscapes are formed by lignite mining activities. The mining pits destroy vast areas of the existing cultural landscapes. These areas have to be made re-accessible to society through extensive reclamation projects after mining has been finished. For an appraisal of the social benefits that need to be compared to the costs of these projects the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is the method of choice. The CVM measures the willingness to pay of households for such a project. This paper reports the findings of a Con-tingent Valuation study assessing the social utility created by a reclamation project north of the city of Cottbus in Brandenburg, Germany. The goal of the study is threefold. Firstly, the affected population's aggregate willingness to pay for the planned reclamation project is cal-culated; it amounts to 2.7 mil. Euro per year. Secondly, the determinants of this willingness to pay are analyzed. Apart from the expected positive impact of income on willingness to pay we find that it is also influenced by people's recreational activities, their general attitudes to-wards public spending and by their concerns about the economic situation. Thirdly, the study explores methodological specifics of an application of the CVM to Germany, especially in East Germany, by focusing on the appropriate design of the willingness to pay question which is an important feature still controversially discussed in the literature.contingent valuation;

SWOT-Analyse der Klimawandel-Anpassungsbereitschaft von Unternehmen

Um negative Folgen des Klimawandels für Unternehmen zu minimieren, müssen auch die Unternehmen selbst zu Akteuren einer Anpassung an den Klimawandel werden. Wichtig bei der Sensibilisierung von Unternehmen ist es eine unternehmensnahe Sprache zu sprechen, die auf die alltäglichen Herausforderungen der Unternehmen Bezug nimmt. Im vorliegenden Artikel wird beschrieben, wie dies mit Hilfe des Analyserahmens der SWOT-Analyse möglich ist. Konkret wurden 26 Interviews mit Unternehmen geführt und untersucht wie viele und welche klimawandelrelevanten Risiken, Chancen, Stärken und Schwächen genannt werden. Unternehmensspezifisch kann eine solche Analyse genutzt werden um einen Anpassungsprozess anzustoßen. Mit einer Analyse auf aggregiertem Niveau zeigen wir, dass Unternehmen den Klimawandel überwiegend als Bedrohung wahrnehmen, der sie mit eigenen Stärken begegnen können.Afin de minimiser les effets négatifs du changement climatique sur leurs activités, les entreprises doivent s’approprier le changement climatique et s’ériger en actrices de l’adaptation à ses conséquences. Pour sensibiliser les entreprises, il est important de parler un langage proche du monde des entreprises qui fasse écho à leurs défis quotidiens. Cet article décrit comment le cadre analytique d’une analyse SWOT se prête à cet enjeu à partir d’une enquête par entretiens qualitatifs. Concrètement, 26 entretiens nous ont permis d’analyser les dispositions des entreprises au changement climatique sous l’angle des risques, des opportunités, des forces et des faiblesses liés aux changements climatiques. L’outil SWOT nous semble intéressant à mobiliser au stade d’une démarche d’adaptation. L’agrégation de nos analyses par entretiens nous permet d’avancer que les entreprises se représentent le changement climatique principalement comme une menace qu’elles souhaitent contrer à partir de la mobilisation de leurs propres forces