Valuing improvements to threatened and endangered marine species: an application of stated preference choice experiments

Non-market valuation research has produced value estimates for over forty threatened and endangered (T&E) species, including mammals, fish, birds, and crustaceans. Increasingly, Stated Preference Choice Experiments (SPCE) are utilized for valuation, as the format offers flexibility for policy analysis and may reduce certain types of response biases relative to the more traditional Contingent Valuation method. Additionally, SPCE formats can allow respondents to make trade-offs among multiple species, providing information on the distinctiveness of preferences for different T&E species. In this paper we present results of an SPCE involving three U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species: the Puget Sound Chinook salmon, the Hawaiian monk seal, and the smalltooth sawfish. We estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for improving each species' ESA listing status and statistically compare these values between the three species using a method of convolutions approach. Our results suggest that respondents have distinct preferences for the three species, and that WTP estimates differ depending on the species and the level of improvement to their ESA status. Our results should be of interest to researchers and policy-makers, as we provide value estimates for three species that have limited, if any, estimates available in the economics literature, as well as new information about the way respondents make trade-offs among three taxonomically different species.     

一个基于专家知识的生态系统服务价值化方法

Costanza等提出的生态服务价值化评估方法在中国直接运用存在一些缺陷:低估或者忽略了某些生态系统服务价值。因此,笔者在其生态系统服务价值评估体系的基础上分别在2002年和2006年对中国700位具有生态学背景的专业人员进行问卷调查,得出了新的生态系统服务评估单价体系。通过对比发现,调查获得的基于专家知识的生态系统服务单价体系与基于物质量估算的生态系统服务价值之间具有较好的可比性。该基于专家知识的生态系统服务评估体系可以用于已知土地利用面积的生态系统服务价值估算,能在较短时间内获得较为精确的结果。     

基于不同利益相关方认知的水源地生态补偿探讨——以上海市水源地和用水区居民问卷调查为例

采用实地问卷调查和条件价值法评估上海市饮用水源保护的利益相关方认知,探讨黄浦江上游水源地生态补偿机制。研究结果表明,当前水源保护相关政策认知比例普遍较低,水源地部分居民福利受到一定影响,对政府补偿政策的期望较为一致,用水区多数居民愿意分担部分水源保护的责任和义务;水源地WTA和用水区WTP分别为1526元/(月•户)和306元/(月•户),相应未来5年的总受偿意愿和总支付意愿为759.48×10⁸元和465.08×10⁸元;生态补偿方案的合理设计以及不同利益相关方的良好沟通是解决水源地环境冲突的关键。     

三江源区生态资源非使用价值评价

采用权变评价法评估了青海三江源区生态资源的非使用价值,并分析了其影响因素.结果表明,三江源区生态资源的非使用价值为453.06亿元/年,其中存在价值为236.36亿元/年,遗产价值为125.91亿元/年,选择价值为90.79亿元/年,人均支付意愿为76.30元/年.Logit模型和Tobit模型分析表明,对该区的了解程度、关注程度、重视程度、年龄、个人收入、教育程度等因素均影响其非使用价值评价.     

条件价值评估法本土化改进及其验证——来自武汉的实证研究

运用条件价值评估法(CVM)评估资源环境等非市场物品价值是近年来国外研究的热点问题。20世纪90年代后期,国内开始陆续出现以CVM评估非市场价值的研究案例,多数文献集中在该方法的应用层面。论文以武汉市耕地非市场价值评估为研究目标,紧密结合现实国情和武汉市的具体情况,针对耕地非市场价值内涵界定、WTP与WTA选择、价值评估影响人群界定、WTP累加、支付方式选择等多个技术环节展开探索性研究,结合实际对传统CVM理论模型进行了修正。CVM问卷调查分析表明,在论文所定义的耕地价值内涵下,具有武汉户籍农村居民的平均WTP为22d,耕地非市场价值为1523.83元/hm₂。     

Formulaic Expert Method to Integrate Evaluation and Valuation of Heritage Trees in Compact City

Urban trees serve important environmental, social and economic functions, but similar to other natural endowments they are not customarily depicted in monetary terms. The needs to augment protection, funding and community support for urban greening call for proper valuation. Heritage trees (HTs), the cream of urban-tree stock, deserve special attention. Existing assessment methods do not give justice to outstanding trees in compact cities deficient in high-caliber greenery, and to their social-cultural-historical importance. They artificially separate evaluation from valuation, which should be a natural progression from the former. Review of tree valuation methods suggested the formula approach to be more suitable than contingent valuation and hedonic pricing, and provided hints on their strengths and weaknesses. This study develops an alternative formulaic expert method (FEM) that integrates evaluation and valuation, maximizes objectivity, broadly encompasses the key tree, tree-environment and tree-human traits, and accords realistic monetary value to HTs. Six primary criteria (dimension, species, tree, condition, location, and outstanding consideration) branched into 45 secondary criteria, each allocated numerical marks. Each primary criterion was standardized to carry equal weight, and a tree's maximum aggregate score is capped at 100. A Monetary Assignment Factor (MAF) to consign dollar value to each score unit was derived from three-year average per m² sale price of medium-sized residential flats. The applicability of FEM was tested on selected HTs in compact Hong Kong. The aggregate score of a tree multiplied by MAF yielded monetary value, which was on average 66 times higher than the result from the commonly-adopted Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers method. The computed tree values could be publicized together with multiple tree benefits to raise understanding and awareness and rally support to protect HTs. The property-linked FEM could be flexibly applied to other cities, especially to assess HTs in compact developing cities.     

环境健康价值评估中的年龄效应研究

在环境健康价值评估研究中,统计寿命价值和年龄之间的关系是理论和实证研究焦点之一,也是重要的学术问题。长久以来,环境政策效益评估中是否应该赋予老年人较低的统计寿命价值一直存在广泛争议,且尚未得到一致性结论。通过设计选择实验,对北京市空气质量改善的健康效益进行了抽样调查,并采用MNL模型对北京市约500个居民的调查数据进行回归分析,估算了不同年龄人群对健康风险减少的支付意愿,针对中国人群中统计寿命价值和年龄之间的关系进行实证探讨。结果表明:一方面,在总体样本中设置年龄虚拟变量,回归结果表明年龄变量系数的符号均显著为负,即年龄因素对减少空气污染带来的死亡风险降低的支付意愿具有显著的影响,年龄越大支付意愿相对越小;另一方面,不同年龄人群分组样本结果显示,统计寿命价值与年龄之间呈现"倒U型"关系,统计寿命价值在中国存在"老年折扣"现象。研究结果可为我国环境政策的健康效益分析中如何考虑年龄的影响提供重要依据。     

CVM研究中支付意愿问卷“内容依赖性”的实证研究——以上海城市内河生态恢复CVM评估为例

为检验意愿价值评估法(Contingent Valuation Method,CVM)中争论的焦点问题——支付意愿的问卷"内容依赖性",本文以上海城市内河生态修复为评估对象,构建CVM的假想市场,设计评估顺序、评估对象尺度、嵌套物品等四重方案,通过720份问卷平行调查对同一评估对象在不同问卷中获得的支付意愿,并进行估计值比较和t检验。研究结果显示:支付意愿的数值随评估尺度的增加并不显著增加;单独评估比作为嵌套物品评估具有更高的支付意愿值;在问卷中先被评估的物品居民给出的支付意愿较高;整体物品的支付意愿小于各部分的加总。研究结果验证了国外实证研究文献报道的"范围不敏感"、"嵌入效应"、"顺序效应"、"部分—整体效应"等现象的存在。对此现象的解释主要是收入效应和替代效应。因此,在将CVM研究结果应用于公共政策中应充分考虑上述因素引起的偏差。     

Better than their reputation: enhancing the validity of contingent valuation mail survey results through citizen expert groups

Although contingent valuation is the dominant technique for the valuation of public projects, especially in the environmental sector, the high costs of contingent valuation surveys prevent the use of this method for the assessment of relatively small projects. The reason for this cost problem is that typically only contingent valuation studies which are based on face-to-face interviews are accepted as leading to valid results. Particularly in countries with high wages, face-to-face surveys are extremely costly considering that for a valid contingent valuation study a minimum of 1000 completed face-to-face interviews is required. This paper tries a rehabilitation of mail surveys as low-budget substitutes for costly face-to-face surveys. Based on an empirical contingent valuation study in Northern Thailand, it is shown that the validity of mail surveys can be improved significantly if so-called Citizen Expert Groups are employed for a thorough survey design.     

基于不同价值构成的耕地资源价值评估——以湖南省为例

正确认识和科学评估耕地资源的完全价值,对缓解征地补偿标准过低、土地收益分配不合理以及粮食安全和生态环境等问题具有一定指导意义。基于耕地的不同价值构成,选用相应的评估方法对湖南省不同等级耕地的总价值进行了评估,评估结果为：1~5等耕地资源单位面积的总价值分别为547 24813、481 61077、430 74534、385 86049和336 19093元/hm2;不同等级耕地上3种耕地价值的构成不一样,社会保障价值在所有不同等级耕地总价值中所占比重最大。这一研究结论对于显化耕地资源的完全价值以及抑制耕地资源的过度流失具有积极的作用