VALUING INJURY TO NATURAL RESOURCES: THE EFFECT OF RESOURCE QUALITY INFORMATION ON PERCEPTIONS AND CONTINGENT VALUES

Respondents are heterogeneous in their prior information about resource injury. The analysis derives an updating model of how heterogeneous respondents incorporate new information contained in resource injury descriptions. The analysis confirms that the sign of the information effect is determined by the difference between new and prior information. However, in the present analysis, respondents differ in prior information so that treatment information induces different perceptions and different values in different respondents. The empirical analysis confirms that identical treatments result in different injury perceptions. Across respondents, treatment induced changes in perceived injury vary not only in size, but also in sign. Both theory and empirical results show that willingness to pay varies directly with perceived injury.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Resource Quality Information and Validity of Willingness to Pay in Contingent Valuation

Elicitation of valid statements of contingent value requires survey participants who are familiar with the environmental resource change. A primary purpose of the contingent market must be to assure familiarity by providing information. Information about resource quality is important when incompletely informed respondents, say nonusers, perceive resource quality which diverges from true quality. Differences in perceived quality and true quality can be influenced as respondents learn from information in the contingent market. By presenting survey participants with information about four wetlands of varying qualities we test for information effects in a dichotomous choice contingent market for wetlands allocation. We find that information about quality is a determinant of willingness to pay for wetland preservation. Information about resource quality presented in contingent markets will result in more valid valuations of changes in allocations of environmental resources

ANALISIS FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI NILAI INFORMASI PELAPORAN KEUANGAN PEMERINTAH DAERAH (Studi pada Satuan Kerja Perangkat Daerah di Kabupaten Batang)

The objective of this research is to examine the factors that influence information value of local government financial reporting. Information value refers to reliability and timeliness. The factors that influence reliability and timeliness are human resource quality, information technology utilization, internal control system, and local financial monitoring. Data collection was done by giving questionnaires to 110 heads and staffs of SKPD’s accounting department in Batang District. The collected data then processed by using PLS (partial least square). Hypotheses testing results are as follows. First, internal control system has a positive and significant influence on reliability of local government financial reporting while human resource quality, information technology utilization, and internal control system have no influence. Second, human resource quality and information technology utilization have a positive and significant influence on timeliness of local government financial reporting while internal control system has no influence

`Been there done that': Disentangling option value effects from user heterogeneity when valuing natural resources with a use component.

Endogeneity bias arises in contingent valuation studies when the error term in the willingness to pay (WTP) equation is correlated with explanatory variables because observable and unobservable characteristics of the respondents affect both their WTP and the value of those variables. We correct for the endogeneity of variables that capture previous experience with the resource valued, humpback whales, and with the area of study. We consider several endogenous behavioral variables, so we apply a multivariate probit approach to jointly model them with WTP. In this case, correcting for endogeneity increases econometric efficiency and substantially corrects the bias affecting the estimated coefficients of the experience variables, by isolating the decreasing effect on option value caused by having experienced the resource. Stark differences are unveiled between the marginal effects on willingness to pay of experience of the resources in an alternative location versus experience in the location studied

A Framework for Quality-Driven Delivery in Distributed Multimedia Systems

In this paper, we propose a framework for Quality-Driven Delivery (QDD) in distributed multimedia environments. Quality-driven delivery refers to the capacity of a system to deliver documents, or more generally objects, while considering the users expectations in terms of non-functional requirements. For this QDD framework, we propose a model-driven approach where we focus on QoS information modeling and transformation. QoS information models and meta-models are used during different QoS activities for mapping requirements to system constraints, for exchanging QoS information, for checking compatibility between QoS information and more generally for making QoS decisions. We also investigate which model transformation operators have to be implemented in order to support some QoS activities such as QoS mapping

Improving Willingness to Pay Estimates for Quality Improvements through Joint Estimation with Quality Perceptions

Willingness to pay for quality change may depend on heterogeneous perceived quality levels. In these instances, contingent valuation studies should include measures of quality perceptions as covariates in the willingness to pay model in order to avoid omitted variable bias. Variation in quality perceptions across respondents leads to a potential endogeneity of quality perceptions. We address the potential for endogeneity bias using an instrumental variables approach in which a measure of quality perceptions is included as a determinant of willingness to pay and is simultaneously determined by various exogenous factors. The willingness to pay model is estimated jointly with quality perceptions allowing for correlation of the error terms. Using data on willingness to pay for water quality improvements in the Neuse River in North Carolina we reject exogeneity of perceived quality. Correcting for endogeneity improves the measurement of willingness to pay by differentiating willingness to pay among respondents with heterogeneous quality perceptions.

Nutrient loading in the Vaal River over the past two decades

Nutrient loading is negatively affecting South Africa’s freshwater resources and ecosystems. Anthropogenic activities are the leading causes of continuous nutrient loading in the country’s water resources. This study examines the dynamics of nutrient loading in the Vaal River. The objectives are to explore nutrient loading in the Vaal River over the past two decades and to compare the differences between the two decades. Water quality data were obtained from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Water Resource Quality Information Services (RQIS) database. Elevated nutrients of NH4+, N03, P04 3- and chlorophyll-a were observed at selected sites at various times during the 20 year period under analysis. Nutrients concentration are elevated alongside agricultural and industrial activities, and urban areas. Student t-tests investigated the difference between the two decades and in most cases showed significant differences between these decades. The last decade showed elevated nutrient levels for N03, NH4+ and chlorophyll-a in most of the DWS monitoring sites. Only P04 3- at some sites showed a reduction from the previous decade. The study concludes that upper and middle sections of Vaal River are eutrophic and hypertrophic and a trend toward a permanent state of these conditions is likely without a long-term solution to address the problem of excessive nutrient loading entering the Vaal River system

Public participation and willingness to cooperate in common-pool resource management: a field experiment with fishing communities in Brazil

The primary evidence about the factors determining successful self-governance of common-pool resources (CPR) has come from case studies. More recently, this observational evidence has been complemented by insights from economic experiments. Here we advance a third approach in which the role of local deliberation about the management of a fishery resource is investigated in a field experiment. Using three control and three treatment communities in a freshwater fishery, we tested if participation in developing specific measures for community-based sustainable CPR management increased the willingness to contribute to the implementation of these measures. Each community was also exposed to information about their community leader's advice about the proposed measures. Both participation and leader advice affected the willingness of participants to contribute to one of three concrete proposals. However, the strongest influence on individual willingness to contribute was exerted by the individual beliefs about the cooperation of others in CPR management. --local deliberation,participatory research,willingness to contribute,beliefs,fishing resources,field experiment

`Been there done that': Disentangling option value effects from user heterogeneity when valuing natural resources with a use component.

Endogeneity bias arises in contingent valuation studies when the error term in the willingness to pay (WTP) equation is correlated with explanatory variables because observable and unobservable characteristics of the respondents affect both their WTP and the value of those variables. We correct for the endogeneity of variables that capture previous experience with the resource valued, humpback whales, and with the area of study. We consider several endogenous behavioral variables, so we apply a multivariate probit approach to jointly model them with WTP. In this case, correcting for endogeneity increases econometric efficiency and substantially corrects the bias affecting the estimated coefficients of the experience variables, by isolating the decreasing effect on option value caused by having experienced the resource. Stark differences are unveiled between the marginal effects on willingness to pay of experience of the resources in an alternative location versus experience in the location studied.contingent valuation; respondent experience; option values; multivari-ate probit; endogeneity; whales

The impact of resources on decision making

Decision making is a significant activity within industry and although much attention has been paid to the manner in which goals impact on how decision making is executed, there has been less focus on the impact decision making resources can have. This article describes an experiment that sought to provide greater insight into the impact that resources can have on how decision making is executed. Investigated variables included the experience levels of decision makers and the quality and availability of information resources. The experiment provided insights into the variety of impacts that resources can have upon decision making, manifested through the evolution of the approaches, methods, and processes used within it. The findings illustrated that there could be an impact on the decision-making process but not on the method or approach, the method and process but not the approach, or the approach, method, and process. In addition, resources were observed to have multiple impacts, which can emerge in different timescales. Given these findings, research is suggested into the development of resource-impact models that would describe the relationships existing between the decision-making activity and resources, together with the development of techniques for reasoning using these models. This would enhance the development of systems that could offer improved levels of decision support through managing the impact of resources on decision making