The evolution of markets for water : theory and practice in Australia

"This book presents a detailed picture of the evolutionary processes at work in water markets with a particular focus on theory and practice in Australia. Policymakers are striving to strike a balance between the pros and cons of a property rights/market based approach to the allocation of water resources, as opposed to an approach that centres on government regulation. The current movement in Australia is toward the use of markets, and numerous reforms are either underway or under consideration in that direction. This provides an ideal opportunity to observe the factors at play in determining the balance and hence the mix of policy instruments at work. The distinguished contributors offer a range of perspectives - economic, legal, environmental - and combine conceptual analysis with evidence from real policy decisions." "Policymakers and governmental advisers will find this book timely and extremely relevant to making decisions on what is arguably the world's most critical natural resource. The Evolution of Markets for Water will also be of great interest to academics and students with an interest in natural resource economics, law and management."--BOOK JACKET

Framing effects

One of the key issues faced by researchers employing non-market valuation techniques is framing. This refers to the way that survey respondents might view or ' frame' the trade-offs being presented to them. In one sense, framing effects are a standard component of everyday choices that people make. The psychological make-up of a person, together with influences from culture, society and a variety of other influences will help to determine that person's choices about lifestyle, purchases and so on. These influences can be thought of as provlding a frame within which people find many choices easy and efficient to make. -- Introd

The choice modelling approach to environmental valuation

Choice Modelling is a technique that has recently emerged as a means of estimating the demand for environmental goods and the benefits and costs associated with them. The aims of the book are fourfold: * to introduce the technique in the environmental context * to demonstrate its use in a range of case studies * to provide insights into some methodological issues * to explore the prospects for the technique. The authors contributing to the book show that choice modelling offers considerable potential for the evaluation of environmental goods and services. Its flexibility to cope with a wide range of applications is well demonstrated. The technique also presents numerous challenges to practitioners. A number of these are addressed in the book. Informed and innovative, this book will prove indispensable to all scholars, researchers and practitioners in the areas of environmental studies and environmental economics

WTP and WTA in relation to irrigation development in the Fitzroy Basin, Queensland

Estimates of the compensating surplus generated by changes in non-marketed environmental amenities can be estimated using stated preference valuation techniques. These are typically framed in terms of WTP tradeoffs, even if the situation of interest involves a property right vestment that calls for a WTA question. The differences created by the two questioning formats are explored in this report using the results of two choice modelling applications. Both applications were framed on the potential for irrigation development and environmental losses in the Fitzroy River Basin, Central Queensland. The scenarios used in the applications differed only in that they used alternatively WTP and WTA questioning formats. The results indicate that robust models could not be constructed from either WTP or WTA based data sets when only two alternatives were used in the choice sets. In contrast, a strongly fitting model was derived from WTP-based data where three alternatives formed the choice sets

Assessing rainforest conservation demands

Choice Modelling is a non-market valuation technique that can be used to assess peoples' preferences for environmental protection where such information is not readily available from markets. The technique has a number of modelling and analytical strengths, and provides researchers with insights into how consetvation values may be structured within society. The series of Choice Modelling applications reported in this paper explored the values that a sample of Brisbane residents held for protecting rainforests in Queensland and New South Wales, as well as in a variety of overseas locations. The results indicate that environmental, social and recreational values are important in determining potential support between different forest protection proposals. The modelling ofdecision pathways (through the application of nested logit models) indicates that the Brisbane residents surveyed were parochial in apportioning their support for rainforest protection. There is evidence that rainforests in Queensland are viewed as the most important to support, followed by those in other Australian states, and then those in overseas locations

Assessing social values for water allocation with the contingent valuation method

Since the 1994 COAG agreement on water reform there have been moves in Australia to apply economic principles more rigorously to water development and allocation issues. Among the criticisms that have been levelled at the economic reform process are ones that economic efficiency measures, including water trading, have negative consequences on social equity. For example, competitive pressures might shift water allocations away from smaller farmers and some rural communities. In this paper, the results of a contingent valuation survey assessing community values for avoiding these social impacts in the Fitzroy Basin of Queensland are reported. A sample of Brisbane households was asked in a referendum format whether they would support proposals to purchase water entitlements and grant them to small farmers, small townships, environmental groups or Aboriginal communities

Using k0-NAA to assess sediment quality in Causeway Lake (Queensland, Australia)

Causeway Lake is a popular recreational area for water sports. It was created when a bridge, a weir and a causeway were built across the Mulambin estuary in 1939. The current water depth varies from 0.5-1.3 m, versus the original 2-3 m depth. The Mulambin area has recently seen residential and other developments. The sedimentation rates in the lake were estimated recently at 1000 m3/y transported into the lake by tidal currents and 1500 m3/y from the catchment.This study aimed to determine metal concentrations in Causeway Lake sediments using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and the k0-method of standardisation, and to assess the sediment quality using the ANZECC sediment quality guidelines. NAA is attractive because of its minimal sample preparation requirements and multi-element detection capability; furthermore a single monitor is sufficient for the k0-method to determine the concentration of all detectable elements in a sample. To check the reliability of the k0-NAA method, BCSS-1 (estuarine) and PACS-2 (marine) certified sediment reference materials were analysed. The k0-NAA anlyses of the Causeway Lake sediments were also compared with ICP-OES or ICP-MS analyses.The study used the new 20 MW OPAL research reactor operated by ANSTO. At the INAA irradiation positions used the neutron flux was around 1.5×1013 cm-2 s-1 and was well thermalised (thermal/epithermal flux ratio >1000). Irradiations were carried out in both the short and long residence time facilities to maximise the number of quantifiable elements. The neutron flux monitor for k0-NAA was the reference material IRMM-530R which contained 0.1 % gold. Gamma-ray spectra were analysed using HyperLab and elemental concentrations calculated using Kayzero for Windows.The ratios of the k0-NAA data to the reference sediments’ certified values were generally 0.9-1.1 indicating reliability of the method. At least 30 elements (excluding Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb, but including rare earths) were detected in the Causeway Lake sediments. However only eight elements were compared because of the limited ICP-OES/ICP-MS dataset. The table (ratio of k0-NAA to ICP-OES/ICP-MS data) shows comparable average concentrations for surficial sediments and core slices (particles <60 micron), except for Cr and Sb. No significant metal contamination was indicated, although As and Cr appeared enhanced in some sediments

Choice modelling and the transfer of environmental values

Benefit transfer is the practice of estimating economic values at a target site by utilizing the results of existing studies for different sites. The focus of this new book is to assess the validity and accuracy of benefit transfer using choice modeling in contrast to the traditional focus of transferring results from contingent valuation and travel cost models. The book includes a simple guide to using choice modeling results in a benefit transfer process, an overview of the theoretical issues involved and a number of case studies from Australia, the USA, New Zealand, the UK and Finland. -- publisher notes

The impact of offering two versus three alternatives in choice modelling experiments

Researchers designing choice modelling experiments have some latitude over the number of choice alternatives that can be offered in each choice set. There is some evidence that design dimensions, including the number of alternatives available in each choice set, can influence model outcomes. A key issue is whether referendum formats with binary options are preferable to choice sets with multiple alternatives. A choice modelling experiment was performed where questionnaires delivered to two split samples differed only according to whether two or three alternatives were offered to respondents in each choice set. The results indicate that more robust models could be constructed from the three-alternative split compared to the two-alternative split. One reason for the difference is that respondents tended to display serial non-participation in the two-alternative format, choosing an alternative consistently without regard for changes in the attributes. For practitioners of the CM technique, the results suggest that it may be preferable to offer more than two alternatives in a choice set that includes a status quo option

Stated values and reminders of substitute goods: Testing for framing effects with choice modelling

Choice modelling, a non-market valuation technique, is used to explore framing issues in the context of environmental valuations. Choice modelling appears to have promise in simultaneously valuing a pool of substitute amenities and goods. Describing choices according to component attributes can also help to frame choices according to a number of trade-offs. The statistical information available helps to determine where framing effects have occurred. Three choice modelling experiments were reviewed to show that framing effects may be more widespread in non-market valuation studies than is commonly thought