Urban Flood Problems in Dhaka,Bangladesh: Slum Residents’ Choices for Relocation to Flood-Free Areas

This article applies a stated preference choice model to assess trade-offs that residents of two squatter settlements in Dhaka, Bangladesh might consider if they were given choices for relocation to flood-free areas. The respondents were asked to choose repeatedly from a set of choice cards, which displayed different configurations of financial incentives for relocation, such as free or inexpensive land, loans or nonrepayable grants, and provisions for temporary or permanent employment opportunities. The survey results indicated that despite extensive experience with flood problems, many residents of Mirpur and Vasantek found that certain configurations of economic incentives were not attractive enough for them to relocate to flood-free areas. At the same time, they would prefer a reduction in the risk of flooding at their current location. The economic incentives that would best assist in increasing voluntary relocation of residents from their current locations included free land, nonrepayable grants (Taka 20,000), and long-term employment opportunities. Further, differences in geographic location (i.e., Mirpur vs. Vasantek), income levels, and membership in neighborhood communities were linked with the tendency of residents to stay at their current location.     

Combining Stated Preference and Revealed Preference Methods for the Valuation of Non-market Goods

In this paper, we introduce the combining stated pref- erence and revealed preference methods which is the state-of- the-art method for the valuation of non-market goods. Revealed preference methods an...     

A calibrated auction-conjoint valuation method: Valuing pork and eggs produced under differing animal welfare conditions

This paper develops a valuation method which generates consistent and systematic estimates of people's preferences for complex multi-attribute goods by inextricably linking auction bids with conjoint ratings. The advantage of the valuation approach is that it permits the estimation of people's values for many potential goods, allows one to decompose people's values for a good into its sub-components, and permits the study of preference heterogeneity without distributional assumptions. We apply the method to an important and increasingly controversial topic: animal welfare. The method is used to determine people's preferences for eggs and pork produced from different production systems. Data from experiments conducted in three diverse U.S. locations (Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; and Wilmington, NC) indicates that people are, on average, willing to pay $0.95 more for a dozen eggs raised in an aviary, pasture system vs. a cage system, and are willing to pay $2.02 more for two-pounds of pork chops raised in a pasture system as opposed to a crate system.     

甘肃兴隆山自然保护区濒危马麝(Moschus sifanicus)秋季利用生境特征

于2006~2007年9~10月间采用样线样带法研究了甘肃兴隆山自然保护区马麝的秋季生境利用特征,共布设286个空白对照样地和55个利用样地,测量并比较两类样地内的海拔等17个生境变量.结果表明,马麝秋季利用样地的乔木密度(0.90±0.14)和灌木均高(1.92 m±0.53 m)显著低于非利用样地(乔木密度1.35±0.07;灌木均高3.01 m±0.53 m),而且距水源距离(<1 000 m,76.37%)和人为干扰活动距离(<1 000 m,76.36%)较近的中下坡位生境(82.82%)(P<0.05).对喜好生境变量的主成分分析表明,地理因子(由海拔、水源距离、植被类型和坡向构成)是制约兴隆山马麝秋季栖息地选择的首要因子,此外,郁闭度因子(由郁闭度和坡度构成)、食物因子(由食物多度和乔木胸径构成)和隐蔽因子(由隐蔽度和避风性构成)也是影响兴隆山马麝秋季生境选择的重要因素.由于秋季对食物和水源的强烈选择,兴隆山马麝对生境隐蔽性和距人为干扰距离的选择强度较低,即承受较大强度的人为干扰.表5参31     

Using local knowledge to model asymmetric preference formation in willingness to pay for environmental services

This paper describes an approach to account for asymmetric preference formation in discrete choice models used for environmental valuation. The paper draws on data from a case study on preferences for environmental change resulting from a hypothetical rural development and conservation programme in Indonesia. Local knowledge on the current state of the environment was used to define an individual-specific status quo that consistently frames changes in a range of environmental services as gains or losses matching the perceptions of the local population living in the vicinity of a National Park. I estimated choice models that included separate parameters for increases and decreases in attribute levels for the environmental services and derived the indicators of local willingness to pay (WTP) corresponding to the bidirectional changes relative to the individual-specific status quo option. I found clear evidence of an asymmetric response to increase and decrease in attribute levels relative to the status quo. Ignoring asymmetric preference formation can therefore result in biased estimates of WTP indicators and welfare measures of change in cases where the outcomes of environmental programmes can plausibly result in both an increase and a decrease relative to a reference option. Compared to a symmetrical modelling approach, the combination of simultaneously accounting for asymmetric preference formation and preference heterogeneity in the choice model yielded additional insights that may be used to inform the development of local strategies towards biodiversity conservation.     

基于DEA-TOPSIS时间序列的建筑业政府安全监管效率分析

为对建筑业政府安全监管效率进行科学合理的评价,优化资源配置,提高资源利用率,提升监管水平,在建立效率评价指标体系的基础上,将数据包络分析法(DEA)和优劣解距离法(TOPSIS)组合,构建建筑业政府安全监管效率评价模型,对2012—2019年西安市建筑业政府安全监管效率进行实证分析。结果表明：该模型能较好地应用于建筑业政府安全监管效率评价,通过获取政府投入指标的松弛变量值,分析建筑业政府安全监管效率,为政府优化资源配置提供借鉴。     

Identification and assay of microbial fatty acids during co-composting of active sewage sludge with palm waste by TMAH-thermochemolysis coupled with GC-MS

The fatty acids of two composts of active sludge with palm tree waste were investigated by thermochemolysis coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This method (tetramethylammonium hydroxide-pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) allowed the direct determination of total fatty acids (analysed as fatty acid methyl esters: FAMEs) present in the organic matter of the samples without any separation procedures. Mixture A was 1/3 sludge+2/3 palm waste and mixture B was 1/2 sludge+1/2 palm waste. The level of FAMEs rose by 8.4–33.3% and 10.8–13.4% in mixtures A and B, respectively, after 6 months of co-composting. Branched FAMEs of bacterial origin (iC15:0) rose during the thermophilic phase, in mixture A the aC17:0/aC15:0 ratio increased during the co-composting process, also in mixture B the aC16:0/C16:0 ratio rose but only during the thermophilic phase. All the FAMEs identified showed a drop at the end of co-composting except for C18:0 and C16:0. The stabilisation phase was characterised by a significant rise in the length of the aliphatic chains; the carbon preference index thus increased at the end of the composting process, indicating that the final product was proportionally richer in fatty acids of plant origin.