MARKET SEGMENTATION WITHIN CONTINGENT VALUATION

A finite probability mixture model is combined with a contingent valuation model to analyze the existence of differential market segments in a hypothetical market. The approach has at least two principle benefits. First, the model is capable of identifying market segments within the hypothetical market. Second, the model can be used to estimate WTP/WTA within each segment. The model is illustrated using a data set collected on consumer response to genetically modified foods in Norway.Agribusiness,

OPTIMAL CONTROL OF PEST RESISTANCE TO TRANSGENIC CROP VARIETIES

Transgenic corn varieties entered the market in 1996. These plant varieties carry a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, Bt, that makes the plant produce a toxin deadly to the pest insect European Corn Borer (ECB) Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner). Since ECB may build up genetic resistance to this toxin, the growers of transgenic corn varieties are required to plant a portion of their field (refuge) with regular corn. This requirement is expected to prolong the efficiency of Bt corn in combating the ECB because some non-resistant pests can survive in the refuge, and thereby dilute the build-up of resistance in the overall pest population. A fixed refuge size of 20 percent is the currently recommended "rule-of-thumb" by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Past work has searched for an economically-optimal refuge size utilizing discrete-time simulation approaches in which refuge size is treated as an exogenous parameter whose optimal value is found through numerical iteration. The objective of this work is to fine-tune parametric refuge specifications by formulating a bioeconomic model capable of endogenously determining the optimal trajectory of refuge sizes over time via an analytical optimal-control rule. The model will provide novel comparative statics/dynamics results demonstrating the sensitivity of the optimal trajectory to important economic and biological parameters.Crop Production/Industries,

EMPIRICAL TAXONOMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICAL ARCHETYPES

Economists usually assume that the private ethical system of individuals is Utilitarian. However, one finds a much broader range of ethical positions in the environmental ethics literature. Moreover, environmental policy debates seem to elicit alternative ethical systems. It would therefore seem prudent to increase our understanding of the role played by alternative environmental ethical systems. In this study we follow some descriptive ethical studies in examining the empirical ethical position of people based on a broad cross section of the American public. We review some taxonomic literature in environmental ethics and develop a conceptual model of the formation of environmental values. We then use canonical correlation to investigate the existence of environmental values and their relationship to childhood experiences. We find four ethical systems linked to four different "types" of people. One of the ethical systems is decidedly spiritual and one seems rather ill-defined or indifferent towards nature. The other two systems show anthropocentric values, one more conservation minded, one more use minded.Environmental Economics and Policy,

A Mixture Model of Consumers' Intended Purchase Decisions for Genetically Modified Foods

A finite probability mixture model is used to analyze the existence of multiple market segments for a pre-market good. The approach has at least two principal benefits. First, the model is capable of identifying likely market segments and their differentiating characteristics. Second, the model can be used to estimate the discount different consumer groups require to purchase the good. The model is illustrated using stated preference survey data collected on consumer responses to the potential introduction in Norway of bread made with genetically modified wheat.

Ponderous, Proficient or Professional? Survey Experience and Smartphone Effects in Stated Preference Research

New parenthood causes large decreases in labor market incomes for mothers but not fathers, a stylized fact known as the “child penalty.” We combine a simple household model with estimates of child penalties in heterosexual nonadopting, adopting, and same-sex couples to better understand what causes the child penalty in heterosexual nonadopting couples. Our results largely rule out giving birth and the father’s advantage in the labor market as mechanisms, leaving preferences, gender norms, and discrimination as the main explanations. In addition, our paper provides novel evidence on the impact of children on labor market outcomes of adopting and same-sex couples.publishedVersio

Consumer Response to Genetically Modified Food Products in Japan

In Japan, a large U.S. export market, there has been growing public opposition against genetically modified (GM) foods. Using a dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, findings show the discount needed for Japanese Seikyou consumers to purchase GM food products is positively affected (i.e., a greater discount is required) by higher levels of self-reported risk perceptions toward GM food, higher levels of concern about food safety and the environment, higher self-reported knowledge about biotechnology, education levels, and income. Interestingly, gender does not significantly affect the discount needed for GM food. Further, it can be inferred from the results that a transformation of Japanese consumers' perceptions and attitudes is needed for GM food products to successfully enter the Japanese market.Consumer/Household Economics,

Altruist talk may (also) be cheap: Revealed versus stated altruism as a predictor in stated preference studies

Altruistic preferences have been found to be important for explaining the substantial nonuse values identifed in numerous stated preference surveys. However, studies analysing the efect of altruism on willingness to pay (WTP) have underestimated the challenges of measuring altruism by stated measures. We exploit a naturally occurring decision domain to investigate the role of altruism in stated preference studies. We employ a novel dataset, collected from an Internet survey panel, that contains respondents’ past donations of earned survey coins to charities and use these data to analyse the efect of donation behaviour on the same respondents’ WTP. We analyse donation behaviour across two contingent valuation surveys on environmental topics. Donators are proven givers in an anonymous and unrelated setting, much like decision-making in a dictator game. We fnd that respondents’ past donations are associated with higher WTP, even after controlling for stated measures of altruism, ecological, and environmental attitudes. The results suggest that measures of stated altruism fail to capture important aspects of altruism, implying that previous studies of altruism based on such measures may be questioned. The results also support research demonstrating that altruistic behaviour in one decision domain is a good predictor of altruistic behaviour in other domains. Prosocial behaviour · Altruism · Contingent valuation · Donations · Willingness to paypublishedVersio

Mountains of trouble: Accounting for environmental costs in local benefit-driven tourism development

Tourism and recreational home developments generate much of the economic activity at mountain destinations in Norway. At the same time, resulting land use changes pose a severe threat to ecosystem services. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is suitable to examine the trade-offs at the heart of many management problems but has been relatively neglected in tourism economics. Other methods, such as local economic impact analysis, are much more common. This study combines stated preference, economic impact analysis, and geospatial analysis in a comprehensive CBA framework. The CBA is performed both at the local and regional levels for small (S), medium (M), and large (L) developments in the Norefjell-Reinsjøfjell mountain area in Norway. The L-development is the preferred tourism and land management locally as market benefits from property sales and construction outweigh the local nonmarket externalities. However, considering the additional market and nonmarket impacts outside the destination, the S-development generates higher total welfare benefits. We conclude that to achieve socially optimal tourism development, nonmarket externalities inside and outside of the destination should be accounted for. The geospatial analysis demonstrates the geographical distribution of externalities

Acceptance of wind power development and exposure – Not-in-anybody’s-backyard

Despite a large stated-preference (SP) literature on wind power externalities, few SP studies employ a case-control approach to examine whether people’s acceptance of new wind power developments and renewable energy initiatives increases or decreases with exposure. Furthermore, the existing studies are inconclusive on this issue. In a case-control discrete choice experiment, we measure the level of acceptance in terms of people’s willingness-to-accept (WTA) for having future land-based wind power developments in Norway; comparing exposed and non-exposed people’s WTA. We find that exposure lowers acceptance. Furthermore, exposed people are also unwilling to pay as much to increase general domestic renewable energy production (from all sources) as non-exposed people, and thus have lower acceptance for such renewable energy policy initiatives. After testing for type of exposure, we argue that the inconclusiveness in the literature of how exposure affects acceptance of wind power developments could be due to the fact that impacts considered differ somewhat across studies.publishedVersio