The Effects of a Provision Rule in Choice Modelling

This research report investigates the effects of including a provision rule in choice modelling non-market valuation studies. Split samples with and without a provision rule were used to test for differences in household willingness-to-pay for improvements in environmental quality in the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment. Local/rural and distant/urban sub-samples of residents were selected. The results of the study show that the inclusion of a provision rule had an effect on preferences in the distant/urban communities; however, the impact of a provision rule in the local/rural community sub-samples was negligible.Choice modelling, incentive comparability, provision rule, non-market valuation, environment, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Scale and scope effects on communities’ values for environmental improvements in the Namoi catchment: A choice modelling approach

This report presents results of research designed to investigate variations in willingness to pay (WTP) estimates across different scales and scopes of environmental investments. The goal is to help catchment management authorities better prioritise their natural resource management actions at both catchment and farm levels. Five split samples were used to test for scale and scope effects. A choice-modelling (CM) analysis was used to elicit household WTP for improvements in environmental quality attributes in the Namoi catchment. The approach was developed so that value estimates could be more accurately transferred between different action scopes.choice modelling, scale effect, scope effect, embedding, non-market valuation, catchment planning, environment., Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Location differences in communities’ preferences for environmental improvements in selected NSW catchments: A Choice Modelling approach

To elicit household willingness to pay (WTP) for improvements in environmental quality in three NSW catchments (Lachlan, Namoi and Hawkesbury-Nepean), a choice modelling (CM) study was conducted. This report presents results of research designed to investigate variations in WTP across different communities. The communities included local residents, distant/urban and distant/rural residents. Nine split samples were established to test for ‘location effects’. The analysis involved both conditional logit and random-parameters logit models. Natural resource management (NRM), including Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs), can use the non-market values obtained from this study to guide their investment decisions.Choice modelling, location effects, non-market valuation, catchment planning, environment, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

A Choice Modelling Survey of Community Attitudes to Improvements in Environmental Quality in NSW Catchments

The survey was designed to estimate environmental values suitable for integration into MOSAIC, a bio-economic model for catchment and farm level planning. Local residents, as well as distant rural and distant urban communities, were surveyed in three NSW catchments (Lachlan, Namoi and Hawkesbury-Nepean) using choice modelling (CM). The survey aimed to find out respondents’ attitudes about, and preferences for, potential natural resource management (NRM) improvements. In total, 3,997 responses were collected from seven different locations in NSW. Fourteen split samples were established to allow for testing of incentive compatibility in CM, the impact of respondent location on values held, and scale effects. This research report describes the development of the CM questionnaires, the survey design and the data collection process.Nonmarket valuation, choice modelling, survey, questionnaire design, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Framing for incentive compatibility in choice modelling

The incentives that motivate respondents to reveal their preferences truthfully have been a long-standing area of research in the non-market valuation literature. A number of studies have been undertaken to investigate incentive compatibility in nonmarket valuation. Most of these used laboratory environments rather than field surveys (e.g. Carson and Burton, 2008, Harrison, 2007, Lusk and Schroeder, 2004, Racevskis and Lupi, 2008). Only a few studies investigating incentive compatibility have considered multi-attribute public goods with an explicit provision rule in a choice experiment (Carson and Groves, 2007, Collins and Vossler, 2009, Carson and Burton, 2008). The design of a choice modelling study that avoids strategic behaviour has proven particularly difficult because of multiple choices and difficulties in developing a majority voting provision rule. This study investigates the impact of the inclusion of a framing statement for incentive compatibility in a field survey choice modelling study. An incentive compatible statement (provision rule) that sets out to respondents the rule relating to when the good under consideration will be provided was employed. The impact of a provision rule across three alternative choice modelling multiple choice questionnaires was tested by comparing results between split samples with and without a provision rule. Four split samples were used to test the impact of a provision rule on preferences across different communities including local/rural residents and distant/urban residents. A choice modelling analysis that involved a conditional logit model and a random parameter model was used to elicit household willingness to pay for improvements in environmental quality in the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment. The results of the study show that the inclusion of a provision rule had an effect on preferences in the distant/urban communities. However, the impact of a provision rule in the local/rural community sub-samples was negligible. This study suggests that the impact of a provision rule should be analysed in the context of different community characteristics.Choice modelling, Incentive comparability, Provision rule, Non-market valuation, Environment, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Choice modelling in the development of natural resource management strategies in NSW

Protecting environmental services generates social benefits. At the same time, private landholders supplying these benefits may face some costs. To provide these services efficiently, policy makers need information about community values for the environment as well as landholders’ costs. This study explores how choice modelling (a non-market valuation technique) is used to estimate comment values. These include use and non-use values for increasing environmental quality in NSW catchments. Non-market valuation techniques for estimating environmental values are reviewed. This is followed by a discussion of methodological aspects of the choice modelling technique and its potential as a regional planning tool for Catchment Management Authorities (CMA’s)Nonmarket valuation, choice modelling, trade-offs, bio-physical modelling, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Policy responses to invasive native species: issues of social and private benefits and costs

Farm and catchment managers in Australia face decisions about controlling invasive native species (or scrub) which may infest agricultural land. The treatment of this land to remove the infestation and re-establish native pastures is likely to be expensive for landholders. Yet there are potential social benefits from such remediation and so a policy question arises of what to do to about facilitating such change. New South Wales state government legislation addresses this issue through regulations, and the Catchment Management Authorities are responsible for administering public funds to achieve associated natural resource improvements. However, the extent of the private costs and social benefits associated with such changes are not known, which precludes benefit-cost analyses using the traditional welfare economics framework. This paper reports results of a social and private economic analysis of the impacts of a typical infestation remediation decision. We show that for the landholder the private costs exceed the benefits achieved from increased livestock productivity. However, there are social benefits expressed by the willingness to pay by members of the local catchment community for improvements in native vegetation and biodiversity. When these social benefits are included, the economic analysis shows a positive social net benefit. This raises questions of how to reconcile the public and private accounting, and whether any changes to policies, regulations or procedures for natural resource management in New South Wales are warranted.Invasive native scrub, environmental values, choice modelling, financial, economic, Namoi catchment,

Diversity, genetic mapping, and signatures of domestication in the carrot (Daucus carota L.) genome, as revealed by Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers

Carrot is one of the most economically important vegetables worldwide, but genetic and genomic resources supporting carrot breeding remain limited. We developed a Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) platform for wild and cultivated carrot and used it to investigate genetic diversity and to develop a saturated genetic linkage map of carrot. We analyzed a set of 900 DArT markers in a collection of plant materials comprising 94 cultivated and 65 wild carrot accessions. The accessions were attributed to three separate groups: wild, Eastern cultivated and Western cultivated. Twenty-seven markers showing signatures for selection were identified. They showed a directional shift in frequency from the wild to the cultivated, likely reflecting diversifying selection imposed in the course of domestication. A genetic linkage map constructed using 188 F2 plants comprised 431 markers with an average distance of 1.1 cM, divided into nine linkage groups. Using previously anchored single nucleotide polymorphisms, the linkage groups were physically attributed to the nine carrot chromosomes. A cluster of markers mapping to chromosome 8 showed significant segregation distortion. Two of the 27 DArT markers with signatures for selection were segregating in the mapping population and were localized on chromosomes 2 and 6. Chromosome 2 was previously shown to carry the Vrn1 gene governing the biennial growth habit essential for cultivated carrot. The results reported here provide background for further research on the history of carrot domestication and identify genomic regions potentially important for modern carrot breeding

Optimization and Validation of a Human <i>Ex Vivo</i> Femoral Head Model for Preclinical Cartilage Research and Regenerative Therapies

OBJECTIVE: Articular cartilage is incapable of effective repair following injury or during osteoarthritis. While there have been developments in cartilage repair technologies, there is a need to advance biologically relevant models for preclinical testing of biomaterial and regenerative therapies. This study describes conditions for the effective ex vivo culture of the whole human femoral head. DESIGN: Fresh, viable femoral heads were obtained from femoral neck fractures and cultured for up to 10 weeks in (a) Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM); (b) DMEM + mixing; (c) DMEM + 10% human serum (HS); (d) DMEM + 10% HS + mixing. The viability, morphology, volume, and density of fluorescently labelled in situ chondrocytes and cartilage surface roughness were assessed by confocal microscopy. Cartilage histology was studied for glycosaminoglycan content using Alcian blue and collagen content using picrosirius red. RESULTS: Chondrocyte viability remained at >95% in DMEM + 10% HS. In DMEM alone, viability remained high for ~4 weeks and then declined. For the other conditions, superficial zone chondrocyte viability fell to 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this ex vivo model, chondrocyte viability was maintained in human femoral heads for up to 10 weeks in culture, a novel finding not previously reported. This human model could prove invaluable for the exploration, development, and assessment of preclinical cartilage repair and regenerative therapies

Determinants of improvement trends in health workers' compliance with outpatient malaria case-management guidelines at health facilities with available "test and treat" commodities in Kenya

Background: Health workers’ compliance with outpatient malaria case-management guidelines has been improving in Africa. This study examined the factors associated with the improvements. Methods: Data from 11 national, cross-sectional health facility surveys undertaken from 2010–2016 were analysed. Association between 31 determinants and improvement trends in five outpatient compliance outcomes were examined using interactions between each determinant and time in multilevel logistic regression models and reported as an adjusted odds ratio of annual trends (T-aOR). Results: Among 9,173 febrile patients seen at 1,208 health facilities and by 1,538 health workers, a higher annual improvement trend in composite “test and treat” performance was associated with malaria endemicity-lake endemic (T-aOR = 1.67 annually; p25 febrile patients (T-aOR = 1.46; p = 0.003); and with under-five children compared to older patients (T-aOR = 1.07; p = 0.013). Other factors associated with the improvement trends in the “test and treat” policy components and artemether-lumefantrine administration at the facility included the absence of previous RDT stock-outs, community health workers dispensing drugs, access to malaria case-management and Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) guidelines, health workers’ gender, correct health workers’ knowledge about the targeted malaria treatment policy, and patients’ main complaint of fever. The odds of compliance at the baseline were variable for some of the factors. Conclusions: Targeting of low malaria risk areas, low caseload facilities, male and government health workers, continuous availability of RDTs, improving health workers’ knowledge about the policy considering age and fever, and dissemination of guidelines might improve compliance with malaria guidelines. For prompt treatment and administration of the first artemether-lumefantrine dose at the facility, task-shifting duties to community health workers can be considered