Context-dependent evaluation of climate change policies: competing policies,knowledge and emotions

Climate change policies can compete with policies on other social and environmental problems for limited economic resources. This paper investigates the potential influence of alternative policies on citizens’ preferences for climate change policies. A contingent valuation study was implemented to estimate the impact of observable and unobservable contextual effects of competing polices on climate change valuation. Individuals are also investigated about their endowment of knowledge and emotional reactions to such problems. The results show that citizens’ valuation of climate change policies crucially depends on the context-dependent competing policies. The valuation rises as the number of competing policies increases. This increment becomes economically significant when the competing policies are related to specific problems such as forest fires and development. In addition, the valuation also rises with the amount of knowledge endowed by the individual about the climate change problem, and with the experience of negative emotions such as fear and sadness.     

Residents'''' Willingness to Pay for Improving Air Quality in Jinan, China

Along with the progress of urbanization and environmental deterioration, residents' desire for improved air quality is increasing. In order to quantify an individual's willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved air quality in Jinan of eastern China, a contingent valuation method (CVM) was employed. A sample of 1,500 residents was chosen on the basis of multistage sampling methods with face-to-face interviews by using a series of hypothetical, open-ended scenario questions which were designed to elicit the respondents' WTP. Results showed that 59.7% of respondents were able to express their WTP and the mean WTP is 100 Chinese Yuan (CNY) per person per year. A probit model on the probability of a positive WTP and a regression model were developed to find the relationship between endogenous variables and WTP. Most parameters in the econometric analysis had the expected sign. Annual household income and expenditure on treating respiratory diseases significantly influence WTP. The rates of positive WTP and the monetary amount are larger for men than for women. Results also showed that people who lived in more polluted areas were willing to pay more for clean air. Unlike developed countries, clean air may only be considered as a public good in China in that more than 40% of respondents had no incentive to bear the costs of attempting to achieve better air quality, which indicates the relatively low environmental consciousness.     

受偿意愿在确定生态补偿标准上下限中的作用

受偿意愿（WTA）是制定生态补偿标准的常用依据之一,能否正确使用WTA对于制定合理的补偿标准具有重要影响.本文梳理了国内近12a的相关文献,发现在WTA应作为生态补偿标准的上限还是下限问题上尚无定论,尽管大多数研究将WTA作为补偿标准下限,但背后的逻辑并不严谨.本文认为生态补偿标准制定过程可视为受偿方和支付方的讨价还价过程,因此WTA实际上是受偿方的出价,应作为补偿标准上限.另外,本文从WTA、支付意愿（WTP）是区间的角度进行分析,判断补偿标准可取的范围,发现当调查得到的WTA大于WTP时,仍存在谈成的可能性;当调查得到的WTA小于WTP时,实际达成空间大于表面达成空间,决策者拥有更大的选择空间.     

Assessing the costs and environmental benefits of IMO regulations of ship-originated SOx and NOx emissions in the Baltic Sea

To assess the value of the environmental benefits of the Sulphur Emission regulation (SECA) that came into force in 2015, changes in depositions of SOx and NOx from ship exhaust gas emissions were modelled and monetized for the Baltic Sea region for the years 2014 and 2016. During this period, the total deposition of SOx in the study area decreased by 7.3%. The decrease in ship-originated SOx deposition from 38 kt to 3.4 kt (by over 88%) was translated into a monetary value for the ecosystem impacts of nearly 130 million USD, according to the EcoValue08 model. This is less than the modelled health benefits, but it is not insignificant. For NOx, there was no decreasing trend. The exceedance of the critical loads of SOx and NOx was also estimated. The effect of Baltic shipping on the exceedance of critical loads of acidification after SECA is very small, but Baltic shipping still has a considerable effect on the exceedance of critical loads for eutrophication.     

Obscuring Ecosystem Function with Application of the Ecosystem Services Concept

Abstract: Conservationists commonly have framed ecological concerns in economic terms to garner political support for conservation and to increase public interest in preserving global biodiversity. Beginning in the early 1980s, conservation biologists adapted neoliberal economics to reframe ecosystem functions and related biodiversity as ecosystem services to humanity. Despite the economic success of programs such as the Catskill/Delaware watershed management plan in the United States and the creation of global carbon exchanges, today's marketplace often fails to adequately protect biodiversity. We used a Marxist critique to explain one reason for this failure and to suggest a possible, if partial, response. Reframing ecosystem functions as economic services does not address the political problem of commodification. Just as it obscures the labor of human workers, commodification obscures the importance of the biota (ecosystem workers) and related abiotic factors that contribute to ecosystem functions. This erasure of work done by ecosystems impedes public understanding of biodiversity. Odum and Odum's radical suggestion to use the language of ecosystems (i.e., emergy or energy memory) to describe economies, rather than using the language of economics (i.e., services) to describe ecosystems, reverses this erasure of the ecosystem worker. Considering the current dominance of economic forces, however, implementing such solutions would require social changes similar in magnitude to those that occurred during the 1960s. Niklas Luhmann argues that such substantive, yet rapid, social change requires synergy among multiple societal function systems (i.e., economy, education, law, politics, religion, science), rather than reliance on a single social sphere, such as the economy. Explicitly presenting ecosystem services as discreet and incomplete aspects of ecosystem functions not only allows potential economic and environmental benefits associated with ecosystem services, but also enables the social and political changes required to ensure valuation of ecosystem functions and related biodiversity in ways beyond their measurement on an economic scale.     

环境与资源价值CV评估预测有效性研究进展

条件价值法是评估非市场产品价值的最重要方法,在环境与资源价值评估中得到广泛的应用,预测有效性是条件价值研究中最为核心的内容。论文在对环境与资源项目条件价值评估预测有效性实证研究回顾与分析的基础上,初步总结了导致CV有效性差的主要原因,认为无收入限制、温暖光辉以及"答非所问"等诸多原因均来自市场的虚拟性。介绍了提高CV预测有效性的三类主要措施,即事前措施、事后措施及事间措施。同时分析了CV预测有效性表达方式的局限性,提出应合理看待CV预测有效性的结果。     

The economic impact of the invasion of Acacia saligna in Israel

This paper illustrates the use of alternative, non-market valuation methods to estimate the economic value of ecological damage caused by the invasive plant Acacia saligna. We discuss the motivation to perform an economic valuation for bio-invasion in general and then examine the costs and benefits of conservation management programmes that reduce the risk of A. saligna invasion at the Nizzanim Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) nature reserve in Israel. The study found that the annual mean willingness to pay (WTP) for containment or eradication of A. saligna was US$8.41 and US$8.83, respectively. The value placed on conserving the nature reserve was then compared to the cost of containment or eradication of the species, enabling a standard economic benefit–cost analysis. The result of this analysis showed that, using the most conservative method of valuation of the nature reserve, eradication of A. saligna gave a net benefit.     

The influencing factors of the WTP for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents in China

To explore the factors that influence respondents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents, a questionnaire survey combined with contingent valuation and psychometric paradigm methods were conducted in the city of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, China. Both traditional socioeconomic variables and perceived characteristics of the hazards were considered in this study, and a Tobit model was used to find the factors influencing WTP under three risk reduction scenarios. The results showed that three demographic characteristics, age, gender, and income, significantly affected the WTP for chemical risk reduction. In addition, three extracted public risk perception factors, effect, knowledge, and trust, also strongly affected the WTP. The mean WTP value increased as the magnitude of the risk reduction increased. The number of factors influencing the WTP decreased as the reduction level improved, and only the effect factor had a significant influence on the WTP for a higher level (80%) of risk reduction. The cost for chemical safety management of Yancheng was calculated, and the optimized risk reduction level was determined. These findings can assist governments and policy makers to formulate suitable strategies for risk control, to reach target groups of people to develop effective communication, and to provide specific references for the best investment for the security of local residents.     

基于支付能力与支付意愿的居民生活用水水价承受能力研究——以广州市番禺区为例

从支付能力和支付意愿的角度,应用扩展线性支出系统(ELES)模型和条件价值评估法(CVM),定量研究居民生活用水水价承受能力.以广州市番禺区为例,通过2005~2009年截面数据资料和问卷调查数据,定量研究了城镇和农村居民生活用水水价支付能力和支付意愿,并分析了2011年番禺区居民对新调整居民生活用水水价的承受能力.结果表明,2005~2009年,达到平均收入水平的番禺区居民对水价具有支付能力,其基本用水需求能得到满足,但低收入户,尤其是农村低收入户的水价支付能力有限,是水价改革应重点关注的对象;CVM调查结果显示,番禺区居民对2011年生活用水水价的支付意愿为2.163元/m3;2011年,番禺区居民生活用水价格由2.00元/m3上调为2.15元/m3,达到平均收入水平的番禺区居民对新水价具有承受能力.     

四川省森林生态系统对野生珍稀濒危动物的保护价值计量研究

论文以异地保护成本替代法计算森林生态系统对濒危野生动物的保护价值。栖息于四川省森林生境的濒危野生动物需要生存下去所必需的食物、水、居住环境等一切生存条件完全由人为提供、人为创造和维持的成本就是四川省森林生态系统保护这些野生动物的价值。论文以动物园饲养动物的基本成本作为濒危野生动物异地保护的核算依据,得到四川省森林生态系统对野生珍稀濒危动物的保护价值为15.45×10⁸元/a。