A Hedonic Study of New England Dam Removals

There are over fourteen thousand dams in the New England region. Recent efforts to remove dams to return rivers back to their natural orientations in the United States have increased, though a host of potential externalities exist to nearby communities. We compile 75 removed dams in the New England region to estimate the aggregate treatment effect of dam removal on nearby properties. We employ a repeat sales sample with property fixed effects and a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate the proximity effects of dam removal. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that dam removals have no effect on proximity properties

Case-based Reasoning and Dynamic Choice Modeling

Estimating discrete choices under uncertainty typically rely on assumptions of expected utility theory. We build on the dynamic choice modeling literature by using a nonlinear case-based reasoning approach based on cognitive processes and forms expectations by comparing the similarity between past problems and the current problem faced by a decision maker. This study provides a proof of concept of a behavioral model of location choice applied to recreational fishers’ location choice behavior in Connecticut. We find the case-based decision model does well in explaining the observed data and provides value in explaining the dynamic value of attributes

Estimating Case-Based Learning

We propose a framework in order to econometrically estimate case-based learning and apply it to empirical data from twelve 2 × 2 mixed strategy equilibria experiments. Case-based learning allows agents to explicitly incorporate information available to the experimental subjects in a simple, compact, and arguably natural way. We compare the estimates of case-based learning to other learning models (reinforcement learning and self-tuned experience weighted attraction learning) while using in-sample and out-of-sample measures. We find evidence that case-based learning explains these data better than the other models based on both in-sample and out-of-sample measures. Additionally, the case-based specification estimates how factors determine the salience of past experiences for the agents. We find that, in constant sum games, opposing players’ behavior is more important than recency and, in non-constant sum games, the reverse is true

Evaluating the Role of Personality Trait Information in Social Dilemmas

We investigate whether cooperative behavior in social dilemmas is conditional on information about a partner\u27s personality traits. Using a repeated one-shot continuous strategy Prisoner\u27s Dilemma (two person Public Goods game), we test how information on personality traits of partners influences cooperative actions. Before each game we provide subjects with the rank-order of their partner (relative to all subjects in the session) on one of the personality traits of the Big Five Inventory. Using a within-subjects design we find that subjects are more cooperative when informed that their partner is more ‘Agreeable’ or ‘Open to Experience’. The primary reason for more cooperative behavior is the expectation that partners will give more to the public good

The Economics of Groundwater Governance Institutions Around the Globe

This article provides an economic framework for understanding and evaluating groundwater governance across the globe. We provide an assessment of groundwater management along three dimensions: characteristics of the groundwater resource; externality problems; and governance institutions. We examine 10 basins located on six continents which vary in terms of intensity and type of water demand, hydrogeological properties, climate, and social and institutional traditions via an integrated assessment along three dimensions: characteristics of the groundwater resource; externality problems; and governance institutions. Our framework suggests these characteristics, along with the high cost of governance, have left many basins in a state of de facto open access. However, governance of the highest value water resources suggest that rules can emerge at relatively low costs that partially address externality problems. We identify these conditions and discuss key challenges and opportunities for additional research

The Effect of Cost-share Programs on Ground Water Exploitation and Nonpoint-source Pollution under Endogenous Technical Change

Empirical studies suggest that cost-share programs are unlikely to reduce exploitation of ground water and nonpoint-source pollution. By introducing an induced irrigation technology in our model, we find theoretically that the optimal amount of irrigation water and nitrogen fertilizer increases (decreases) when the increased rate of the marginal net economic benefits from their use with an induced irrigation technology exceeds (is less than) an increase in the rate of irrigation efficiency. Our results suggest that producers should use relatively more irrigation water and fertilizer when greater quantities of high-value crops are grown because producers will adopt improved irrigation technologies for such crops

Predicting human cooperation in the Prisoner’s Dilemma using case-based decision theory

In this paper, we show that Case-based decision theory, proposed by Gilboa and Schmeidler (Q J Econ 110(3):605–639, 1995), can explain the aggregate dynamics of cooperation in the repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma, as observed in the experiments performed by Camera and Casari (Am Econ Rev 99:979–1005, 2009). Moreover, we find CBDT provides a better fit to the dynamics of cooperation than does the existing Probit model, which is the first time such a result has been found. We also find that humans aspire to a payoff above the mutual defection outcome but below the mutual cooperation outcome, which suggests they hope, but are not confident, that cooperation can be achieved. Finally, our best-fitting parameters suggest that circumstances with more details are easier to recall. We make a prediction for future experiments: if the repeated PD were run for more periods, then we would be begin to see an increase in cooperation, most dramatically in the second treatment, where history is observed but identities are not. This is the first application of Case-based decision theory to a strategic context and the first empirical test of CBDT in such a context. It is also the first application of bootstrapped standard errors to an agent-based model

Valuation of Expectations: A Hedonic Study of Shale Gas Development and New York\u27s Moratorium

This paper examines the local impacts of shale gas development (SGD). We use a hedonic framework and exploit a discrete change in expectations about SGD caused by the New York State moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. Our research design combines difference-in-differences and border discontinuity, as well as underlying shale geology, on properties in Pennsylvania and New York. Results suggest that New York properties that were most likely to experience both the financial benefits and environmental consequences of SGD dropped in value 23% as a result of the moratorium, which under certain assumptions indicates a large and positive net valuation of SGD

Seasons, Stress, Salience, and Support for Cooperative Groundwater Management

Background: Common property resources (CPR) are defined as resources where one person’s use affects what is available to others (either now or in the future). One example of a CPR is a shared aquifer, where multiple users have access to the groundwater. Economic researchers have shown that with a CPR, there are economic benefits to regulating the use of the resource, and that well-designed regulation increases the sustainability of agricultural-based economies that rely on CPRs. Many such regulations exist, and examples include allocation limits in some of Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts and Kansas’s Groundwater Management Districts, as well as groundwater fees in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. However, there are a number of reasons that CPR users may not support regulation. These reasons include the associated short-term cost, financial constraints, a lack of trust that there will be long -term benefits, and time stress that prevents them from carefully considering all outcomes