Economic Values without Prices: The Importance of Nonmarket Values and Valuation for Informing Public Policy Debates

Environmental Economics and Policy,

GRASS ROOTS FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT: IS THIS DEVOLUTION REALLY THE SOLUTION?

Land Economics/Use,

The Bioeconomic Effects of Timber Harvesting on Recreational and Commercial Salmon and Steelhead Fishing: A Case Study of the Siuslaw National Forest

The economic effects of changes in timber harvest levels on recreational and commercial salmon and steelhead fisheries are estimated by combining a series of simple watershed, habitat, population, and economic models. The economic loss in fishery benefits from future timber harvests on 86,700 acres is estimated to be $1.7 million over a 30-year period. The approach employed in this paper overcomes previous shortcomings in valuing marginal changes in recreational fishing by use of a regional multi-site travel cost demand model that contains fish catch as a site characteristic. Site-specific marginal values per salmon and steelhead caught are derived using this technique.Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

PANEL ESTIMATORS TO COMBINE REVEALED AND STATED PREFERENCE DICHOTOMOUS CHOICE DATA

Combining stated and revealed preference data often involved multiple responses from the same individual. Panel estimators are appropriate to jointly model the decision to actually visit at current trip costs, the intention to visit at hypothetically higher trip costs, and the intention to visit at proposed quality levels. To incorporate data on all three choices, the random effects probit model is used to estimate the economic value of changes in instream flow as a covariate in the model and calculating value under alternative flow regimes.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

A RECREATION OPTIMIZATION MODEL BASED ON THE TRAVEL COST METHOD

A recreation allocation model is developed which efficiently selects recreation areas and degree of development from an array of proposed and existing sites. The model does this by maximizing the difference between gross recreation benefits and travel, investment, management, and site-opportunity costs. The model presented uses the Travel Cost Method for estimating recreation benefits within an operations research framework. The model is applied to selection of potential wilderness areas in Colorado. This example is then extended to show the model's capability in budget analysis and in planning to meet recreation targets.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Economic Value of Original Non-Market Valuation Research

We describe a method to determine the net economic gain from conducting original research to estimate non-market benefits of public policy and demonstrate an application of this method. We provide a step-wise method to allow policy practitioners to make informed decisions about when there are expected net benefits to conducting or contracting for original research to estimate the benefits of a policy decision.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The Relationship Between Wildfire and Welfare

We used the well-being evaluation method, a technique for measuring individual utility, to study how people in the wildland urban interface of Colorado (USA) felt about their lives before and after two wildfire scenarios. Variables such as age, family size, fire frequency, and house value were found to affect initial well-being levels. However, after a significant life event, such as a wildfire, many variables that initially affected well-being were no longer significant. We found that after wildfire, the frequency of wildfire occurrence became the most important influence on well-being.well-being evaluation method, Colorado, happiness, wildland urban interface, wildfire intensity, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Health Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF CRITICAL HABITAT FOR THE MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL: A SCOPE TEST USING A MULTIPLE-BOUNDED CONTINGENT VALUATION SURVEY

A split-sample design is used to test for a difference between mean willingness to pay (WTP) for protecting the Mexican spotted owl versus protecting 62 threatened/endangered species which includes the Mexican spotted owl. The multiple bounded contingent valuation method is used in a mail survey of U.S. residents. The mean WTP amounts are statistically different at the 0.1 confidence level indicating the multiple-bounded mail survey passes the scope test. The range of estimated benefits of preserving the 4.6 million acres of critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl substantially outweighs the costs of the recovery effort.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Defining, Valuing, and Providing Ecosystem Goods and Services

Ecosystem services are the specific results of ecosystem processes that either directly sustain or enhance human life (as does natural protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays) or maintain the quality of ecosystem goods (as water purification maintains the quality of streamflow). "Ecosystem service" has come to represent several related topics ranging from the measurement to the marketing of ecosystem service flows. In this article we examine several of these topics by first clarifying the meaning of "ecosystem service" and then (1) placing ecosystem goods and services within an economic framework, emphasizing the role and limitations of substitutes; (2) summarizing the methods for valuation of ecosystem goods and services; and (3) reviewing the various approaches for their provision and financing.Many ecosystem services and some ecosystem goods are received without monetary payment. The "marketing" of ecosystem goods and services is basically an effort to turn such recipients - those who benefit without ownership- into buyers, thereby providing market signals that serve to help protect valuable goods and services. We review various formal arrangements for making this happen

An Improved Method for Calibrating Purchase Intentions in Stated Preference Demand Models

The Orbit demand model allows the magnitude of the calibration to stated purchase intentions to vary based on the magnitude of the stated quantities. Using an empirical example of stated trips, we find that the extent of calibration varies substantially with less correction needed at small stated trips (–25%) but larger corrections at higher quantities of stated visits (–48%). We extend the Orbit model to calculate consumer surplus per stated trip of $26. Combining the calibrations in stated trips and value per trip, the Orbit model provides estimates of annual benefits from 60% to 111% less than the count data model.hypothetical bias, Orbit, ordered probit model, travel cost model, recreation, stated preference, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, D12, H44, Q26, Q51,