WHO ARE RESOURCE NONUSERS AND WHAT CAN THEY TELL US ABOUT NONUSE VALUES? AN APPLICATION TO COASTAL WETLAND RESTORATION

This paper assesses the potential for incomplete definitions of resource use to influence estimates of nonuser WTP, and whether uses underlying certain use values may escape measurement using standard mechanisms applied to distinguish resource users from nonusers. Empirical results are drawn from a stated preference analysis involving coastal wetland restoration.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Protecting Marine Mammals in the U.S: Tradeoffs Between Public and Private Costs

Implementation of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) generates costs to both the public and private sectors. While many of the costs are complementary, some result in potential tradeoffs between various groups incurring these costs. Under the MMPA, if estimated bycatch of a species exceeds its Potential Biological Removal (PBR) level, a plan must be developed to reduce bycatch below PBR. Most of the costs associated with such a reduction are borne by private entities (e.g. fishermen). The determination of PBR includes a minimum population level (NMIN), which is a function of the best estimate of the population level (NBEST), and the coefficient of variation (CV) associated with NBEST. Publicly funded abundance surveys are used to derive the values for NBEST and its CV. Survey costs reflect the spatial and temporal scale of the survey and its frequency. Compared with a high cost survey, a lower cost survey can result in a lower value for NBEST with a larger CV, yielding a lower PBR value. Alternating high and low cost surveys may result in substantial changes in PBR estimates. This study compares the cost of a marginal gain in precision of NMIN from an abundance survey with the costs imposed on the fishery and government to reduce bycatch, using harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and the U.S. Atlantic coast sink gillnet fishery as an example

Who Are Resource Nonusers and What Can They Tell Us About Nonuse Values? Decomposing User and Nonuser Willingness to Pay for Coastal Wetland Restoration

This article assesses the potential for incomplete definitions of resource use to influence estimates of nonuser willingness to pay (WTP), with an emphasis on resources for which an exhaustive set of uses may be difficult to characterize. The data are drawn from a stated preference analysis involving coastal wetland restoration. Results suggest that mechanisms used to distinguish users and nonusers of wetland services may influence estimates of nonuser WTP and that for some attributes, traditional distinctions between user and nonuser WTP may have arguable empirical justification. More broadly, results suggest that relationships among use behaviors and restoration values may be more complex than are typically assumed and point to limitations in methods frequently used to distinguish user and nonuser WTP

Clinical phenotypes of perinatal depression and time of symptom onset: analysis of data from an international consortium

Background The perinatal period is a time of high risk for onset of depressive disorders and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, including maternal suicide. Perinatal depression comprises a heterogeneous group of clinical subtypes, and further refinement is needed to improve treatment outcomes. We sought to empirically identify and describe clinically relevant phenotypic subtypes of perinatal depression, and further characterise subtypes by time of symptom onset within pregnancy and three post-partum periods. Methods Data were assembled from a subset of seven of 19 international sites in the Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment (PACT) Consortium. In this analysis, the cohort was restricted to women aged 19–40 years with information about onset of depressive symptoms in the perinatal period and complete prospective data for the ten-item Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS). Principal components and common factor analysis were used to identify symptom dimensions in the EPDS. The National Institute of Mental Health research domain criteria functional constructs of negative valence and arousal were applied to the EPDS dimensions that reflect states of depressed mood, anhedonia, and anxiety. We used k-means clustering to identify subtypes of women sharing symptom patterns. Univariate and bivariate statistics were used to describe the subtypes. Findings Data for 663 women were included in these analyses. We found evidence for three underlying dimensions measured by the EPDS: depressed mood, anxiety, and anhedonia. On the basis of these dimensions, we identified five distinct subtypes of perinatal depression: severe anxious depression, moderate anxious depression, anxious anhedonia, pure anhedonia, and resolved depression. These subtypes have clear differences in symptom quality and time of onset. Anxiety and anhedonia emerged as prominent symptom dimensions with post-partum onset and were notably severe. Interpretation Our findings show that there might be different types and severity of perinatal depression with varying time of onset throughout pregnancy and post partum. These findings support the need for tailored treatments that improve outcomes for women with perinatal depression

Measuring management success for protected species: Looking beyond biological outcomes

The complexity of the ocean ecosystem, including the human component, is such that a single fishery may require multiple policy instruments to support recovery and conservation of protected species, in addition to those for fisheries management. As regulations multiply, the need for retrospective analysis and evaluation grows in order to inform future policy. To accurately evaluate policy instruments, clear objectives and their link to outcomes are necessary, as well as identifying criteria to evaluate outcomes. The Northeast United States sink gillnet groundfish fishery provides a case study of the complexity of regulations and policy instruments implemented under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act to address bycatch of marine mammals. The case study illustrates a range of possible objectives for the policy instruments including biological, economic, social-normative and longevity factors. We highlight links between possible objectives, outcomes and criteria for the four factors, as well as areas for consideration when undertaking ex-post analyses. To support learning from past actions, we call for a coordinated effort involving multiple disciplines and jurisdictions to undertake retrospective analyses and evaluations of key groups of policy instruments used for protected species

Combining Economic and Ecological Indicators to Prioritize Salt Marsh Restoration Actions

While habitat functions are determined by ecological (physical) relationships, social values for these functions are determined by public preferences. Rhode Island residents\u27 preferences for salt marsh functions were estimated through an application of stated preference (conjoint) analysis. The two models were designed to integrate production with values of wetland functions, thereby providing insights into the set of restoration actions that would offer the greatest potential for welfare improvement, given a fixed restoration budget. This paper discusses the design, implementation and estimation of the integrated model, and provides an example of how the model may be used to prioritize multiattribute restoration policies

WHO ARE RESOURCE NONUSERS AND WHAT CAN THEY TELL US ABOUT NONUSE VALUES? AN APPLICATION TO COASTAL WETLAND RESTORATION

This paper assesses the potential for incomplete definitions of resource use to influence estimates of nonuser WTP, and whether uses underlying certain use values may escape measurement using standard mechanisms applied to distinguish resource users from nonusers. Empirical results are drawn from a stated preference analysis involving coastal wetland restoration

Combining economic and ecological indicators to prioritize salt marsh restoration actions

While habitat functions are determined by ecological (physical) relationships, social values for these functions are determined by public preferences. Rhode Island residents\u27 preferences for salt marsh functions were estimated through an application of stated preference (conjoint) analysis. The two models were designed to integrate production with values of wetland functions, thereby providing insights into the set of restoration actions that would offer the greatest potential for welfare improvement, given a fixed restoration budget. This paper discusses the design, implementation and estimation of the integrated model, and provides an example of how the model may be used to prioritize multiattribute restoration policies