Preferences and willingness to pay for close to home nature for outdoor recreation in Sweden

In Sweden there is a strong tradition of using nature areas for outdoor recreation. This paper reports on a study which explored preferences and willingness to pay for outdoor recreation close to home (≤100 km away from home and ≤24 hours stay at a recreation site) using the contingent valuation method. The data originated from a mail survey that involved Swedish residents who were randomly selected from a national register. An ordinary least squares regression model was used to account for factors influencing willingness to pay. The results showed that approximately 50% of the respondents used nature areas close to their home for recreation and their average frequency of visits to these areas was 74 times annually. Areas dominated by forests were the most preferred, followed by water. The respondents were willing to pay approximately 7200 SEK (US$1080) annually. Their willingness to pay was influenced by factors such as type of nature area, distance to and time spent at the recreation site and income. The results provide one input to the land use planning process by considering the demand for nature-based outdoor recreation close to home.     

Environmental effects of shipping imports from China and their economic valuation: the case of metallic valve components

This paper aims to consider the total cost, including polluting environmental emissions, of imports from China to Europe of five valve components in aluminium, steel and iron. These are compared with locally produced alternatives to investigate whether internalising such external costs affects their price competitiveness. Seaborne trade represents 90% of international trade and is growing faster than the world’s economy, but marine pollution emissions are not reflected in market prices. Chinese aluminium, iron and steel production are about 2.5 times more polluting than their European counterparts, but this is also not reflected in prices. In this paper both types of extra emissions are calculated, valued and added to the cost of the components analysed, for comparison with locally produced alternatives. The locally produced components generally remain uncompetitive with Chinese imports for all likely values of external cost, except for heavy aluminium components under high external cost assumptions. The Chinese iron components analysed are simply too low in cost for European (in this case Spanish) equivalents to be competitive even allowing for environmental costs; while the stainless steel ones are so small and light that transport cost, even including externalities, is not significant. While these specific results are of limited generalizability, they provide insight into an issue of considerable and growing importance. Some suggestions are offered for further research.     

生态系统服务的三元价值理论及在大尺度生态补偿上的应用探讨

传统的生态系统服务价值评估方法在生态补偿具体实践中仍存在一些困境。本研究提出生态系统服务功能的三元价值理论,通过能值方法剥离纯自然贡献带来的服务价值、自然贡献和人类投入共同作用形成的服务价值及基于人类偏好的存在价值这三类价值,通过自然贡献可以确定生态补偿的理论基线,而人工投入(基于人类投入绩效的支付)和存在价值(基于偏好的支付)可对基线进行二级修正,进一步提出了利用三元价值理论系统解决"生态系统服务—受益区—补偿方式—补偿标准—受偿主体"问题的生态补偿路径。     

新冠疫情背景下建筑从业人员统计生命价值研究

为研究建筑职业风险和新冠疫情风险下的统计生命价值(VOSL),以成都市建筑从业者为对象采集数据,基于生存分析处理删失数据的特性,运用二分式条件价值法(CVM)和Kaplan-Meier法测算不同背景下的VOSL,运用COX回归对VOSL影响因素进行分析。研究结果表明：成都市建筑从业者在职业风险和新冠疫情风险下的VOSL分别为429.472,459.079万元,生命价值评估具有情境依赖性且存在“引导悖论”;2种风险背景下受访者学历、月收入及安全重视程度的提高均会增强支付意愿,而安全满意程度的提高则会降低支付意愿;职业风险下影响支付意愿的关键因素为安全设备保障满意程度、重视程度和学历,新冠疫情风险下影响支付意愿的关键因素为卫生安全重视程度、学历和月收入。     

Identifying demand parameters in the presence of unobservables: A combined revealed and stated preference approach

• ALTHOUGH MOST ACADEMIC programs use hospital-based sites for perioperative clinical experiences, the exponential growth in the number of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and the increased variety of procedures performed in these settings make ASCs excellent venues for student learning experiences.• NURSING STUDENTS in one program in Florida have the opportunity to take a perioperative practicum designed to allow them to learn about all aspects of patient care and administrative functions in ASCs.• THE ASC PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE is popular with students and staff members alike, and ASC administrators are seeking ways to increase the number of students in the program in an effort to attract new graduates to ASCs. AORN J 84 (August 2006) 219–232. © AORN, Inc, 2006.

Improving multi-site benefit functions via Bayesian model averaging: A new approach to benefit transfer

A benefit function transfer obtains estimates of willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the evaluation of a given policy at a site by combining existing information from different study sites. This has the advantage that more efficient estimates are obtained, but it relies on the assumption that the heterogeneity between sites is appropriately captured in the benefit transfer model. A more expensive alternative to estimate WTP is to analyze only data from the policy site in question while ignoring information from other sites. We make use of the fact that these two choices can be viewed as a model selection problem and extend the set of models to allow for the hypothesis that the benefit function is only applicable to a subset of sites. We show how Bayesian model averaging (BMA) techniques can be used to optimally combine information from all models.The Bayesian algorithm searches for the set of sites that can form the basis for estimating a benefit function and reveals whether such information can be transferred to new sites for which only a small data set is available. We illustrate the method with a sample of 42 forests from U.K. and Ireland. We find that BMA benefit function transfer produces reliable estimates and can increase about 8 times the information content of a small sample when the forest is ‘poolable’.     

上海城市内河生态系统服务的条件价值评估

条件价值评估法(CVM)是估算生态系统服务最主要的技术方法之一。浦东张家浜的综合整治为全国河道整治的样板工程,笔者采用CVM引出张家浜沿线居民对改善张家浜生态系统的平均支付意愿(528 8元 a),初步估算出张家浜综合整治后的生态系统服务价值约为3 014～5 262亿元 a。讨论了导致支付意愿产生偏差的各方面原因,研究了张家浜沿线居民对张家浜整治项目的支付意愿和被调查者收入、年龄、受教育程度等因素的关系。最后提出了CVM研究结果的可靠性和国内在CVM研究中亟待解决的问题。      

Scope effects of respondent uncertainty in contingent valuation: evidence from motorized emission reductions in the city of Nairobi,Kenya

This study analyzed the scope effects of respondent uncertainty in contingent valuation (CV) by evaluating whether willingness to pay (WTP) estimates were sensitive to changes in the magnitudes of motorized emission reductions in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. The WTP estimates were elicited through the conventional payment card (PC), stochastic payment card (SPC) and the polychotomous payment card (PPC) formats. While SPC and PPC formats were used to capture respondent uncertainty, the PC format captured respondent certainty regarding the amounts individuals were WTP for emission reductions. Based on parametric and nonparametric analysis, results show that certain (PC) respondents stated significantly larger WTP amounts for larger emission reductions than for smaller reductions. Conversely, uncertain (SPC and PPC) respondents stated smaller amounts for larger emission reductions than certain (PC) respondents. The implication is that though respondents were sensitive to the scope of motorized emission reductions, respondent uncertainty lowered their sensitivity to scope.     

Social influences on expressed willingness to pay: results of a deliberative monetary valuation study in Colombia

Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) methods can support environmental decision making by enabling the exchange of arguments and information to produce more democratic outcomes. The product of a valuation may be an array of expressions of willingness to pay (WTP) by individuals or a collectively agreed monetary value. Concerns have been raised, however, as to whether this product is an outcome of thoughtful and independent decision-making or influenced by social pressures to conform. Our study examines this issue and addresses concerns about the use of DMV, based on a public deliberation of forest conservation in Colombia. We analyzed the impacts of social conformity on WTP under two different decision scenarios: individual and collective. The results suggest that the impacts of social conformity are greater when a collective decision is required. These findings indicate that tensions between the differing goals of DMV could undermine its democratic promise.     

Validity of CVM related to the type of environmental good; an empirical test

This research explores the boundaries of a valid application of contingent valuation as a method to value environmental changes. Recent criticism from social psychologists refers to unrealistic cognitive demands upon respondents. Criticism from economists point to the problem of measuring preferences in relation to non-use values. In this research the hypothesis is tested that the CV method in valuing goods with non-use value and with a complex content of information produces less valid results than with use values and non-complex content of information. Validity is tested across goods (sample survey: N=832). Results show that scope validity is ambiguous for goods with high content of complexity. Construct validity is not guaranteed for environmental changes with non-use values: Economic factors are not significant, only attitudes are relevant. Given the importance of WTP figures in cost-benefit analysis these results are of paramount importance for the trust in contingent valuation.