Browsing by Subject "Contingent valuation"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
Cooking Fuel “Stacking” Implications for Willingness to Switch to Clean Fuels in Peri-urban Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
(2020) Rogers, Bridget
Cooking fuel “stacking,” or the use of multiple types of fuels, can be problematic in interventions when households are using both clean and dirty fuels at the same time. Dirty fuels such as firewood contribute to indoor air pollution, cause detrimental health effects, and are inefficient forms of energy. In this study, cooking fuel preference data was collected from 360 households in peripheral-urban Kathmandu, Nepal during August 2019. Respondents provided fuel information and gave economic preferences for a contingent valuation experiment on their reported primary fuel type. We explored two aims through multiple regression analyses: the relationship between fuel stacking behavior and willingness to pay (WTP), and the household characteristics associated with fuel stacking behavior. The analyses showed that stacking does not affect WTP, and household expenses are a significant factor associated with WTP only among households using LPG as their primary fuel. The secondary aim found that the main household characteristics associated with fuel stacking are household size, firewood gathering behavior, and if the household was affected by the 2015 LPG blockade. The relationships of these characteristics are complex and depend on whether the household is using more LPG or more firewood when stacking. More research is needed to better understand fuel stacking, and why most people in peri-urban Kathmandu prefer LPG as their primary fuel.
Open Access
Reducing Personal Vehicle Kilometers Travelled to Decrease Air Pollution in Durham, NC
(2010-04-27T03:48:30Z) Jakuta, Joseph
Durham, North Carolina is at the center of the metropolitan region known as the Research Triangle. This area is experiencing rapid and sprawling growth. In addition, there is a lack of substantial public transportation, which results in a high level of reliance on personal automobiles. This research aims to examine how reliance on personal automobiles in one aspect of the lives of residents, the daily work commute, can be reduced in order to reduce aggregate vehicle kilometers travelled (VKTs). The transportation mode choices of walking, bicycling, busing, carpooling and vanpooling were examined as potential mode choices that commuters could switch to if given an economic incentive to do so. A set of equations were developed based on EPA mobile source emissions models and regional data to determine how reductions in VKTs could affect air pollution emissions. A contingent choice survey was developed and sent, via email, to a sample of employees of Duke University and Hospital, in order to determine the marginal willingness to accept payment for an alternative commute. A mode choice model was developed using logit regression techniques based on the survey results to extrapolate the behaviors to employees of Duke at large and commuters to the City of Durham. A log-transformed bid variable was determined to be the most appropriate functional form to predict the likelihood of switching modes. Finally, marginal economic damages of air pollutants were obtained from peer-reviewed research and the economically efficient level of potential benefits were estimated. The air quality models showed that the criteria air pollutants examined were dealt with well under existing policy. Concerning Carbon Dioxide, the resulting calculations showed that only when the marginal damages of pollution are quite high do the equated marginal benefits provided to a person to reduce their commuting footprint begin to have substantial impacts on VKTs.
Open Access
The Economic Value of a Biomass Harvesting Program: A Non-Market Valuation Study Design
(2018-06-20) Majzoub, Yousef
The purpose of this paper is to address the following policy question posed by the United Nations Development Programme in Lebanon: How can the United Nations Development Programme in Lebanon assess the total economic value of a biomass harvesting program? To address the policy question, the paper considers the value of the program’s benefits, such as positive environmental impacts, that are not currently reflected in any existent market (non-marketed benefits). Since the program’s non-marketed benefits are not valued, the benefits tend to be underprovided relative to the optimal level. Hence, the need for a non-market valuation becomes crucial in correcting for the market failure in underproviding goods with benefits. Over the past two decades, economists have contributed greatly to developing and applying methods for valuing environmental and developmental non-market benefits to help the public and private sector make more informed decisions about activities with environmental and developmental impacts. Such methods fall under the umbrella of non-market valuation. Stated preference methods were determined to be the most suitable non-market valuation approach in assessing the program’s total economic value in monetary terms. It was determined that a contingent valuation study would be the most suitable stated preference method in addressing the client’s policy question. The paper includes a detailed approach in conducting a contingent valuation study, within the context of the policy question, and a draft contingent valuation instrument to be used for implementing the study. The items considered in designing the study include, but not limited to, the following: selecting a non-market valuation approach, identifying the affected population, selecting a sampling procedure (probability vs. non-probability sampling), selecting a data collection mode, choosing a sample size, designing the information component of the survey instrument, drafting the survey instrument, pretesting the survey instrument, survey administration options, calculating the program’s value from aggregated willingness to pay estimates through survey responses.
Open Access
The Price of Purity: Willingness to pay for air and water purification technologies in Rajasthan, India
(Environmental and Resource Economics) Shannon, Alexandra; Usmani, F; Pattanayak, SK; Jeuland, MA
Diarrheal illnesses and acute respiratory infections are among the top causes for premature death and disability across the developing world, and adoption of various technologies for avoiding these illnesses remains extremely low. We exploit data from a unique contingent valuation experiment to consider whether households in rural Rajasthan are unwilling to make investments in "domain-specific" environmental health technologies when faced with health risks in multiple domains. Results indicate that demand for water-related risk reductions is higher on average than demand for air-related risk reduction. In addition, households' private health benefits from mitigating diarrheal (respiratory) disease risks are higher (no different) when community-level air pollution risks, rather than community-level water pollution risks, have previously been mitigated. This asymmetric response cannot fully be explained by survey order effects or embedding, but rather suggests that that the broader health environment and the salience of particular risks may be important in households' decision to adopt environmental health technologies.