<p> This dissertation carries out a series of Monte Carlo simulations seeking the implications for welfare estimates from three research practices commonly implemented in empirical applications of mixed logit and latent class logit. </p><p> Chapter 3 compares welfare measures across conditional logit, mixed logit, and latent class logit. The practice of comparing welfare estimates is widely used in the field. However, this chapter shows comparisons of welfare estimates seem unable to provide reliable information about the differences in welfare estimates that result from controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. The reason is that estimates from mixed logit and latent class logit are inherently inecient and inaccurate. </p><p> Researchers tend to use their own judgement to select the number of classes of a latent class logit. Chapter 4 studies the reliability of welfare estimates obtained under two scenarios for which an empirical researcher using his/her judgement would arguably choose less classes than the true number of classes. Results show that models with a number of classes smaller than the true number tend to yield down- ward biased and inaccurate estimates. The latent class logit with the true number of classes always yield unbiased estimates but their accuracy may be worse than models with the smaller number of classes. </p><p> Studies implementing discrete choice experiments commonly obtain estimates of preference parameters from latent class logit models. This practice, however, implies a mismatch: discrete choice experiments are designed under the assumption of homogeneity in preferences, and latent class logit search for heterogeneous preferences. Chapter 5 studies whether welfare estimates are robust to this mismatch. This chapter checks whether the number of choice tasks impact the reliability of welfare estimates. The findings show welfare estimates are unbiased regardless the number of choice tasks, and their accuracy increases with the number of choice tasks. However, some of the welfare estimates are inefficient to the point that cannot be statistically distinguished from zero, regardless the number of choice tasks. </p><p> Implications from these findings for the empirical literature are discussed. </p>

<p> In California and many places around the world, exhaust from heavy-duty (HD) diesel vehicles accounts for a major fraction of criteria pollutant emissions such as particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), and HD vehicles are a significant consumer of petroleum-based fuels and a growing contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. California has been a leader in implementing a broad range of policy measures that promote the development and deployment of fuels and technologies to reduce fuel consumption and emissions from HD vehicles. This dissertation formulates an analytical method to investigate the costs and benefits of various technology pathways for HD vehicles that result in drastic reductions in criteria pollutant and GHG emissions. </p><p> Though there are several studies that estimate the fuel use and emissions contribution of HD vehicles in California and the implications of accelerated advanced technology adoption over time, no studies investigate both the end-user and externality cost impacts of these sweeping technology changes to the HD fleet. This dissertation begins to fill this research gap. Taken together, private and external costs represent an approximation of total societal costs, which is used in a cost-benefit framework to explore the impact of various scenarios for introducing advanced fuel and technologies in the HD vehicle fleet out to 2050. The primary objective of this research is to examine the comparative emissions, fuel use, and total societal costs of six discrete technology adoption scenarios for California HD vehicles between 2010 and 2050. </p><p> The results indicate that, compared to the Baseline, the five remaining scenarios provide net present value (NPV) savings between roughly 5% and 10% and significant reductions in emissions and fuel use. Total costs are dominated by vehicle retail, fuel, and maintenance expenses, and monetized externalities generally account for less than 5% of total costs. Compared to the Baseline, reduced petroleum-based fuel use makes up roughly 90% or more of the cost savings for each of the non-Baseline scenarios. </p><p> For the HD fleet, reaching an 80% reduction in GHG emissions versus 1990 levels by 2050 requires that vehicle sales shift almost completely to zero tailpipe emission technologies by 2030, annual fuel consumption reductions in new vehicles are between 2% and 4% per year, and fuel feedstocks transition to low-carbon pathways. Results from this research suggest that if California is to dramatically transform the HD vehicle fleet over such a short timeframe, a combination of strong incentive programs and technology-forcing regulations are required.</p>

<p> This dissertation explores motivations behind setting voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals. It seeks to understand how the institutional environment in which firms operate shape their profit-maximizing decisions regarding GHG emissions. Such an environment is populated by various stakeholder groups that exert influence on the firm. Understanding how such groups impact the firm can (1) inform policies that take advantage of institutional arrangements to encourage more aggressive emissions reductions by firms and (2) demonstrate the limits of voluntary approaches in reducing GHG emissions. </p><p> The first essay develops a theoretical framework in which corporate social responsibility (CSR) related to climate change is modeled as the proportion of clean inputs firms use in their production processes. Stakeholder groups can have preferences for environmental CSR that impact a firm's profit function and constraints. The resulting framework demonstrates the various considerations that a firm may have in deciding on a profit-maximizing level of environmental CSR given various characteristics. </p><p> The second essay delves more deeply into the decision making process within the firm as it develops a strategic response to the issue of climate change. This is done by analyzing 17 interviews conducted with experts on environmental sustainability efforts in large firms. These suggest that companies may be prompted to respond to the issue of climate change by pressure from different groups, but cost considerations shape the degree of that response. Reduction goals often encourage innovation at the firms as they examine their production process with the dual objectives of reducing costs and emissions. </p><p> The third essay explores the characteristics of firms that joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders program, a voluntary program through which member firms set and achieved GHG emissions reductions from 2002 to 2010. A panel of the S&P; 500 members from 2002, 87 of which eventually joined Climate Leaders, is analyzed using a panel probit model and survival analysis. Results suggest that firms already engaged in sustainability activities were more likely to join the program. Additionally, larger firms, those located in more environmentally friendly states, and those located in areas with cleaner air are more likely to be in the program.</p>

<p> There are always painful tradeoffs in environmental problems. In the current period, the tradeoff. has to be made between consuming environmental goods and "dirty" goods. Since many pollutants accumulate in nature and cause long time problems, the current period's decision also has important impacts on future generations. This yields another tradeoff. between control of the pollution flow and cleanup of the pollution stock in the future. For a local government, tradeoffs between strict environmental policies and local economic prosperity are also concerns.</p><p> This thesis analyzes the tradeoffs made by households, firms and government under different policy regimes. Chapter 2 considers assigning tradable permits to households that are suffering from pollution generated by firms. The households can sell a limited number of permits to polluters according to personal preferences for environmental goods and "dirty" goods. It is shown that, the market transaction between households and polluters can achieve the efficient pollution level. Chapter 3 considers a case in which the stock pollution is reversible with capital investment. In a natural resource extraction model with externalities of heavy metal pollution in the surrounding farmland, the firms tradeoff. between controlling the pollution flow and abating the pollution stock, as well as the firms extraction decisions are analyzed. Chapter 4 derives the optimal environmental bond required by a local government as a financial assurance for inducing firms to do pollution abatement. A local government needs to make tradeoffs between charging a large amount of bond and encouraging local economic prosperity. For a local government, the optimal bond amount does not necessarily cover the worst-case scenario. This thesis contributes to environmental policy design by considering the interests of different parties. </p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-85). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The overarching aim of the work presented here is to contribute to the development of a new interdisciplinary approach to fisheries economics for fisheries governance. it is geographically limited to West Africa but results can be used in other areas where small scale fisheries are active and governance rules are not fully implemented. The disciplinary orientations and conceptual frameworks applied in the research are institutional analysis and governance, as well as the assessment of key drivers of change. The new institutional economic theory provided a sound conceptual frame to analyse fisheries as it brings together economics (theory of the firm and social cost theory), law (convention, contracts, etc.) and sociology (sanctions, taboos, customs, traditions, and codes of conduct). Used on its own it provides a good framework for the analysis of the fish chain and relationships between stakeholders (wealth distribution and equity) and the whole governance of fisheries, coastal zones and oceans. Combined with neo-classical tools such as modelling of fishing activities, it provides a good analytical method to predict effects of management measures on fisher strategies. Furthermore, coupled with an ecological model such as ECOPATH or ECOSIM, its gives a holistic modelling tool (integrating ecology, economic and social dimensions) for the assessment of the full costs and benefits (private and public) of fishing practices and policy policies. The research suggests that the key drivers of change are often hidden and therefore not taken into account while designing management measures. Among shaping drivers, research in West Africa shows that international trade and its rules is shaping the orientation and the functioning of small scale fisheries. Fisher migration, which is directly linked to the trade driving effects, is currently one of the major drivers of change of West African fisheries and the most destabilizing factor. The main results, such as the identification of drivers of change (e.g. international trade, migration), and the integration of social, economic and ecological models are currently used by international institutions such as FAO, UNEP, UNDP and the Group of the ACP countries, regional organisations such as ATLFALCO (Ministerial conference of the African Atlantic countries), the Sub-regional Fishery Commission of seven West African countries and at national level by fishery ministries. The future of fisheries governance in West Africa is strongly linked to a better understanding of small scale fisher strategies and the way they react to fishery management. New research activities on co-management have to be developed in order to switch from a strong centralised fishery management process to a local one where fisher communities play a significant role. Aside from this, work has to be continued to implement the integrated approach into the fishery governance system in West Africa and in other world coastal countries.

Chapter 1: Remanufacturing: Remanufacturing is a form of recycling where used durable goods are refurbished to a condition comparable to new products. With reduced energy and resource consumption, remanufactured goods are produced at a fraction of the original cost and with lower emissions of pollution. This paper presents a theoretical model of remanufacturing where a duopoly of original manufacturers produces a component of a final good. The component needing to be replaced creates an aftermarket. An environmental regulation assessing a minimum level of remanufacturability is also introduced The main results indicate that a social planner could use collusion of the firms on the level of remanufacturability as a substitute for environmental regulation. However, if an environmental regulation is to be implemented, collusion should be repressed since competition supports the public intervention better. One of the results also coincides with the Porter Hypothesis. Chapter 2: Transboundary movements of waste: In a stylized model of international trade, a monopolist in the North exports second-hand products to a representative firm in the South to be reused as intermediate goods, with potential trade gains. The degree of reusability of waste products is a crucial choice variable in the North. This is because with a lack of international vigilance, non-reusable waste can be mixed illegally with the reusable waste. I explore the driving forces for the movement of illegal waste, paying particular attention to the role of local waste regulations, such as the EU's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive. Under mild conditions, it is shown that increased regulation stringency in the North leads its firm to reduce the degree of reusability of its products. As a result, the flow of non-reusable waste to the South increases, providing another channel for the Pollution Haven Hypothesis. Chapter3: Is Democracy good for the environment? The role of private mitigation efforts: We study the question posed in the title in the context of open economies where trade and welfare depend on the extent to which regulation permits the environment to be used as an input in production, and where individuals may privately mitigate the consequences of pollution at a cost. Governments may also manage the openness of the economy to trade directly as well as indirectly via environmental regulation. In this framework, we compare the degree of regulatory stringency and the level of pollution that emerge in the equilibria of a set of political regimes that range from autocratic to fully competitive or democratic. The answer to the question is not straightforward in this investigation because many well-off-citizens in democratic countries may prefer the higher gross incomes that come with freer trade and unregulated production.

This dissertation compared existence values held by Portland, Maine (United States) and Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) residents for the preservation of ten percent of the worlds tropical rain forests and identified economic and noneconomic components of existence value and use values. Existence value was narrowly defined as cognitive in nature; it is the value placed on simply knowing tropical rain forests exists independent of current and future use values. Between November 1998 and February 1999, a 16 page mail-back questionnaire was sent to a random sample of residents in Portland and Port Moresby. A total of 330 and 461 questionnaires were returned from Portland, and Port Moresby, respectively for an overall response rate of 41 and 49 percent, respectively. The results indicated that noneconomic components of mean willingness to pay (WTP) accounted for at least 50 percent of the total value for both Portland and Port Moresby residents. Noneconomic components of existence value (intrinsic value, good cause, moral duty etc) and use value (nonpaternalistic altruism) were excluded to avoid presenting overestimated benefits. Portland and Port Moresby WTP estimates were found to be statistically different from each other. This finding invalidated the assumption that benefits could be directly transferable between countries, especially between developed and developing countries. This result was also supported by evidence of statistical differences in motives and socioeconomic variables between Portland and Port Moresby respondents. Portland residents generally had a higher value for existence (as a proportion of total mean WTP) than Port Moresby residents. Both the Portland and Port Moresby WTP estimates were lower than Kramer and Mercers' (1997) US estimates. Results from the attitudinal models showed that Port Moresby respondents were more environment oriented than Portland respondents. The latter were more development oriented. Port Moresby respondents expressed the sentiment that the rich nations of the world (including the US) should bear the responsibility of preserving tropical rain forests.

This dissertation is an attempt to contribute to the literature that seeks to move beyond income-centered approaches to environmental degradation by examining the other socio-economic factors that influence environmental quality. The first part of the dissertation utilizes the Russian Statistical Agency's data on air pollution and deforestation in Russia to answer the question of what relationship, if any, exists between the quality of governance, income and power inequalities and environmental degradation. The major finding here is that, holding income constant, greater inequalities in income and in the provision of public goods are associated with more environmental degradation. The second part of this dissertation addresses the question of what impact, if any, inequalities among Russia's regions have on environmental degradation at the regional level. By developing two methods for distinguishing between changes in the absolute level of income and changes in the relative level of income, and controlling for the former, this dissertation finds that regions with lower relative incomes have more uncontrolled pollution and more net deforestation than regions whose incomes are high in relative terms. Moreover, these differences cannot be attributed simply to differences in spending on environmental protection; they appear to reflect differences in the location of environmentally degrading activities.

The availability of fresh water is becoming an increasing concern around the world. Modern agriculture has made a transition from traditional agriculture, which often impacts watershed systems. Current enterprising agriculture yields monetary benefits but at the same time can impact environmental outcome. Water resource impacts vary from micro to macro scale. Chapter 1 starts with an introduction. In Chapter 2, I develop an integrated dynamic-based model at farm scale to evaluate the economic and environmental effects of alternative agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on overall sustainability of integrated farming system. It is an integration of a farm simulation model, soil erosion model and dynamic based model. Economic and environmental dynamic simulations are performed over a time horizon for each management practice. Marginal efficiency analysis is performed for examining economically efficient crop support practice with the consideration of change in environmental parameters' and profit accrued from the farm. Scenario outcomes of the stochastic modeling simulation results show varied impacts on sustainability of the farm-balanced scenario performs better overall. Chapter 3 discusses hydrology model at watershed scale to assess conjunctive water harvesting potentials in an urbanizing watershed system. I develop a spatially explicit method to evaluate costs of harvesting and potential benefits in water harvesting. It involves an evaluation of surface and groundwater hydrology in developed and undeveloped regions of the watershed. I develop prioritization maps to characterize conjunctive harvesting potential that is based on benefits and costs. The results demonstrate that a spatially variable harvesting strategy can be used to minimize runoff loss and to augment water supplies. A spatially variable approach that incorporates economic criteria to hydrologic assessment can be used to enhance efficiency related to water harvest and supply management. In Chapter 4, I develop a watershed based policy framework that identifies four policy types that target depletion, recharge, contamination and treatment. The policy package incorporates a mix of policies that target quantity and quality dynamics. The socio-economic implications of excessive extraction of ground water are assessed with the sustainability indicators of productivity from farms, distribution of income among different categories of farmers, groundwater level, and quality. A watershed based policy package covering both structural and nonstructural policies is suggested for achieving sustainability of water resources. Water quality degradation at macro scales involves economic as well as demographic factors. In Chapter 5, I use the concept of Environmental Kuznets Curve to examine the relationship between water quality degradation and economic development, and test the hypothesis of differences in functional relationship for nitrogen, phosphorus, suspended solids, fecal coliform and dissolved oxygen. The results show that the behavior of EKC is different for different water quality indicators. Nitrogen, phosphorous and suspended solids exhibit a U-shaped curve while fecal coliform and dissolved oxygen show N-shaped EKC curve. As transformation occurs from agriculture economy to industrialized economy, water quality improves with the reduction in nutrient and physical contaminants. The dissertation ends up with a conclusion in Chapter 6.