Public Preferences for Compensatory Mitigation of Salt Marsh Losses: a Contingent Choice of Alternatives

Abstract:  Human activities continue to eliminate or degrade wetlands that provide rich habitat for many species. Compensatory mitigation, including creation of new wetlands, restoration of previously degraded wetlands, or preservation of existing wetlands, is one policy option that seeks to maintain no net loss of wetland habitat. Public support of wetland mitigation is essential because the public incurs the cost for many mitigation projects in the form of higher taxes. Therefore, public preferences should be considered when decisions are made about wetland mitigation options. We used a contingent-choice survey in Rhode Island to identify factors affecting public support for different types of compensatory wetland mitigation. Results were based on 640 survey responses. The amount of wetland lost during the original development project had no significant effect on the preferred mitigation alternative. Preferences for preservation, restoration, and no-action alternatives varied according to respondents' gender, education, and income. Certain general considerations applied, however, regardless of mitigation type. Respondents were willing to incur increases in taxes and fees for most mitigation projects. The larger the mitigation project and the lower the cost, the more likely it was to gain public support. The presence of endangered species contributed to public support, but less significantly than public access. Public access can be critical to public support, particularly if the size of the wetland is small or the cost is high. If the cost of providing public access, such as a boardwalk or viewing tower, is relatively small, the gain in public support for mitigation expenditures may well allow a substantial expansion of the area involved in mitigation projects and thus a greater increase in the amount of habitat conservation.     

Alternative Non-market Value-Elicitation Methods: Are the Underlying Preferences the Same?

We advocate a more formal structural approach for comparing WTP for non-market or pre-test-market goods conveyed by fundamentally different preference elicitation mechanisms. Seven independent samples of respondents were asked to value the identical good. Elicitation methods include one actual purchase and six widely used hypothetical choice formats. Using a common underlying indirect utility function (and stochastic structure) allows data for different elicitation methods to be used independently, compared pair-wise (as in much of the earlier literature) or pooled across all samples in one unified model with heteroscedasticity across elicitation methods. Our differences in estimated WTP for the individual models are typical of earlier findings. However, pooled-data models that allow for heteroscedasticity reveal that while there are substantial differences in the amount of noise in the different samples, a common underlying systematic component of the preference structure cannot be rejected for at least four (and possibly five) of these seven elicitation methods.     

Determinants of the marginal willingness to pay for improved domestic water and irrigation in partially electrified Rwandan villages

Access to water for domestic and irrigation uses remains limited across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural areas. While the technical feasibility of implementing innovative technologies to improve water supply has been often evaluated, less is known about the drivers that motivate users to pay for obtaining the inherent benefits of improved water supply. In this article, the determinants of the marginal willingness to pay (mWTP) for improved domestic and irrigation water are investigated. For this purpose, a contingent valuation study is performed in rural Rwanda. This study uses survey data from 316 households situated in 8 villages, in which ~20% of the households receive electricity thanks to microgrids powered by solar energy. It is found that the mWTP for improved domestic water supply is influenced by the proportion of children in the household, business ownership, and satisfaction with water quantity and quality. The mWTP for irrigation is determined by respondent education, business ownership and crop area planted. This paper contributes to the literature by allowing a comparison of the determinants of the mWTP for improved domestic water supply to the determinants of the mWTP for irrigation. Another contribution is to examine the mWTP for improved water infrastructure in partially electrified villages. Identifying areas with high marginal benefits from water can guide infrastructure investment and electrification efforts while improving well-being and increasing revenues in rural areas.     

Economic valuation of health impacts of air pollution in Mumbai

Air pollution leads to serious negative impacts on health. Thephysical evidence is compelling. An attempt has been made inthis paper to establish dose-response relationship of AmbientAir Quality Index and human health, based on time spent by anindividual in different microenvironments during one day.Economic valuation of morbidity and mortality has been attemptedthrough lost salary approach. The results show that theavoidance cost is 29% of the total health damage cost.     

On the value of endangered and other species

This paper describes two frameworks—utilitarian and Kantian—society uses to make decisions concerning environmental management and, in particular, species protection. The utilitarian framework emphasizes the consequences of choices for prior preferences. A perfectly competitive market, on this model, correctly values environmental resources. The Kantian approach identifies rules appropriate to recognized situations given the identity of the decision maker. It relies on democratic political processes and institutions to provide the means by which citizens determine the identity of their community—its moral character and aspirations—and match appropriate rules to recognized situations. This paper argues that markets do not fail in any general way in measuring the economic value of plants and animals. Market prices, in general, correctly represent the marginal or exchange value of species. If society legislates against extinction, this must be understood as an exercise in Kantian decision making in view of the moral value of species, not as an attempt to correct a market failure or to promote social welfare or utility.     

城市声环境舒适性服务功能价值分析

与传统的正向思维方式相反,根据声环境系统"无形"的特点,提出基于污染损失率模型的声环境舒适性服务功能价值研究方法,并以大连市1996年声环境系统的服务功能价值计算为例进行说明.案例分析的结果表明,大连市1996年声环境舒适性服务功能价值为1.88×108元,相当于大连市当年GDP的0.25%,其中28.37%的服务功能价值因污染受到损失.     

环境条件评估法

环境评估方法众多。条件评估方法（Contingent Valuation Method．cVM）是近来较为常用的方法．它包括向人们询问因环境质量改善而愿意支付（Willingness to Pay．WTP）的最大数量：或者，询问因放弃环境质量改善而愿意接受（Willingness to Accept Compensation．WTAC）的最少补偿数额。介绍了CVM方法的基本步骤。并对相关问题进行初步探讨。     

纳帕海湿地生态系统功能与服务价值评估研究

在对纳帕海湿地概况及退化动因进行解析的基础上,系统介绍了纳帕海湿地生态系统功能,定量评价了1981～2001年纳帕海湿地生态系统服务价值的变化情况。研究结果显示：1981年,纳帕海湿地生态系统服务价值总量为15.64亿元,2001年降低至1.33亿元。20a来,纳帕海湿地生态系统服务价值总量下降了91.5%。其中,下降幅度最大的为废物处理功能29%,其次为气候调节27.3%,第三为水源涵养24.7%,原材料下降幅度最小0.1%。鉴于此,为了保护纳帕海湿地资源,实现其可持续发展,应加强认识,适度控制旅游规模;严格执法,不断完善湿地保护体制机制;科学管理,引导湿地资源的合理利用。     

环境经济综合核算的环境资源价值问题的研究

随着人类社会经济的发展,环境污染日益严重以及环境资源的日趋短缺问题的出现,环境资源也逐渐显示出其稀缺性。在环境经济综合核算体系中,环境资源价值估算是环境核算的核心问题。环境资源价值问题的研究对资源管理、生态建设和环境保护具有重要的理论和现实意义。通过查阅国内外文献,探讨环境资源价值的研究现状、理论及其评估方法。在总结现有的环境资源价值评估方法的基础上,提出了应用能值分析方法来客观核算环境资源价值,从而能够更接近环境资源的真实价值。     

南麂列岛海域生态系统服务及价值评估研究

基于现场调查与公众调查,结合历史资料,利用市场价格法、影子工程法、旅行费用法等对南麂列岛国家级海洋自然保护区海域潮间带湿地和水域生态系统服务类型及其价值进行了评估研究.结果表明,2003年南麂列岛冉然保护区海域8项主要及部分次要生态系统服务总价值为24 258.23万元,其中供给服务、调节服务、文化服务的价值分别占23.79%、38.18%和38.03%,单位面积服务价值为12 772 元/ha.