This dissertation is comprised of three essays examining methods for surface water quality valuation. The first essay uses Zillow's ZTRAX property transaction database to investigate variation in hedonic price effects of water clarity on single-family houses throughout the United States. I consider five spatial scales and estimate models using different sample selection criteria and model specifications. The results indicate considerable spatial heterogeneity both within and across the four U.S. Census regions. However, I also find heterogeneity resulting from different types of investigator decisions, including sample selection and modelling choices. Thus, it is necessary to use practical knowledge to consider the limits of market areas and to investigate the robustness of estimation results to investigator choices. In the second essay, I integrate a coastal recreation demand model for Southern New England with property sales in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to estimate the impacts of water quality improvements for freshwater and saltwater resources throughout the region. While traditional hedonic studies for water quality reveal the direct effects of local water quality on housing prices, the spatial extent of the models is limited to 2 km from the waterfront. Integrating recreation demand models with hedonic models allows identification of additional indirect effects of water quality at recreation sites that are capitalized in housing markets through a recreational index (i.e., the potential recreational benefits for a neighborhood). However, the spatial extent of these models is currently untested. I compare the spatial extent of indirect and direct effects of water quality for multiple water quality inputs isolating spatial and temporal sources of variation. The results indicate heterogeneity in the direct effects of freshwater and saltwater clarity depending on whether the source of variation is spatial or temporal. Conflating spatial and temporal water quality variation can lead to anomalous conclusions on the impacts of coastal recreation on housing markets. In the third essay, I evaluate meta-regression models (MRMs) that are used by policy makers in calculating the potential benefits of improvements in environmental quality resulting from proposed regulatory actions. MRMs lay the foundation for benefit transfers applied by EPA to recent rulemakings under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in addition to other environmental contexts (e.g., health benefits under the Clean Air Act). While recent literature has emphasized the necessity that MRMs satisfy key theoretical conditions, including scope sensitivity and the adding up condition, existing MRMs that fulfil these properties require imposing structural model restrictions or removing relevant explanatory variables from the MRM at the expense of model fit and predictive performance. This study presents a method for defining MRMs that draws on characteristics of the given benefits transfer scenario and its relationship to the metadata while satisfying the adding up condition. This modelling framework outperforms the model used by EPA in model fit and predictive performance. Applying the results to a recent CWA rule, I find the model used by EPA substantially underestimates the potential benefits. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation is comprised of three essays examining methods for surface water quality valuation. The first essay uses property sale models to evaluate spatial differences in the impacts of lake water quality on housing markets throughout the United States. I evaluate how investigator decisions related to spatial scale of the model, sample selection criteria, and model specification effects the observed results. I find variation in the impacts of water on property sale prices across the nation. However, the results in some regions are highly sensitive to investigator decisions, implying limitations to using a single model to represent the impacts. The second essay integrates a property sale model for water quality with a model that examines willingness to pay for coastal recreation in Southern New England. I evaluate the impacts of water quality at coastal recreation sites on property sales in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and compare the results to the impacts of local water quality. I find the effects of local water quality is largest on the coast but only capitalized into property sales up to 2 km from the waterfront. I do not find expected results for coastal recreation. The third essay evaluates the models used by policy makers to calculate the potential benefits of improvements in water quality resulting from regulatory action. Previous models prioritized theoretical properties of models, such as the adding up condition, at the expense of model fit and predictive performance. I develop a hybrid model approach that can be used model water quality benefits while satisfying the adding up condition with improved model performance. I apply the model to a recently proposed rulemaking and find the benefits potential benefits greatly exceed those presented in the rule making.

The evaluation of production alternatives in agriculture requires a close examination of their economic and environmental impacts. This study was conducted to identify the crops with the highest profit potential given terminal market prices over the last five years, evaluate the feasibility of adopting new crop alternatives, given historical price information and limited production resources, and determine the potential environmental impacts of adopting new cropping strategies in Accomack and Northampton Counties on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. A database of daily terminal price information was created to identify the market windows for specific commodities, their respective high, median and low prices, and their price variability over the last five years. A linear programming model was used to determine optimal farming operations for those farmers that grow only wheat and soybean versus farmers who are willing and able to include vegetables in their crop mix. PLANETOR, an environmental impact computer program, was used to estimate the potential soil erosion, pesticide leaching and runoff, nitrogen leaching, and phosphorous runoff for different scenarios. The model shows that some of the new vegetable commodities could substantially increase the net returns of the farming operations in question. Romaine and Boston Lettuce were consistently selected as the most profitable alternatives while the region's traditional crops offered little competition. Wheat and soybean production showed acceptable levels of soil erosion, as defined by the T-values for the region, and low potential for nitrogen leaching. They did, however, exhibit a higher potential for water contamination, through leaching, or runoff, of high toxicity chemicals. Although lettuce production had higher than recommended soil losses, a well-diversified crop mix offsets its negative impacts at the farm level. Lettuce also uses low toxicity chemicals, decreasing potential health hazard from their leaching or runoff. The introduction of the new vegetable commodities is recommended on the basis of the high profits that they offer, as well as the more positive pesticide leaching and runoff potential. Their final adoption, however, should take place only after establishing a well defined marketing strategy and resolving potential marketing problems. No crop exists that could offer both high profits and have no impact on the environment. Kenaf was thought to be one, but it was soon eliminated on both grounds. This study showed, however, that the new vegetable crops considered may offer better net returns, while they do not necessarily translate into environmental disasters. / Master of Science

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Michael Boland / Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their negative effect on the environment is a growing concern in the world. It is estimated that agriculture is responsible for 7% of the total GHG emissions in the United States. Currently, environmental policies to regulate GHG are in place in different countries and are expected to increase in the future. Increased awareness about climate change by customers also represents an incentive for companies in measuring their emissions. The objective of this study is to estimate carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions from eight agribusiness retailers in Kansas. Data consisted of two years of energy inputs from the operation of the agribusiness retailers. Carbon emission coefficients were employed to determine carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions associated with the use of each energy input during their operations. Results suggest that electricity is the largest source of total carbon dioxide emissions from the retail operations followed by diesel fuel. Diesel fuel represents the main source of direct emissions and gasoline represents the second largest source of direct emissions. Emissions from the agricultural sector will not be regulated under the current American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 but information on their potential carbon footprint may be used in identifying specific processes where emissions could be reduced and to analyze possible climate legislation implications for their operations. If agribusinesses were to be regulated, none of the eight retailers have locations with emission levels that would be subject to the current cap and trade bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. But, if they were regulated and had to comply by purchasing carbon credits equal to 5 to 20% of their direct emissions, the cost would be low given estimation of future carbon prices in the literature. Even if agricultural retailers are not directly restricted, they will likely be affected by increases in energy input prices if such legislation is enacted.

<p>Environmental policy is increasingly implemented via market mechanisms. While this is in many ways a great success for the economics profession, a number of questions remain. In this dissertation, I empirically explore the question of what will happen as environmental outcomes are coupled to potentially volatile market phenomena, whether policies can insulate environmental outcomes and market shocks, and policymakers should act to mitigate such volatility. I use a variety of empirical methods including reduced form and structural econometrics as well as theoretical models to consider a variety of policy, market, and institutional contexts. The effectiveness of market interventions depends on the context and on the policy mechanism. In particular, energy markets are characterized by low demand elasticities and kinked supply curves which are very flat below a capacity constraint (elastic) and very steep above it (inelastic). This means that a quantity-based policy that acts on demand, such as releasing additional pollution emission allowances from a reserved fund would be an effective way to constrain price shocks in a cap-and-trade system. However, a quantity-based policy that lowers the need for inframarginal supply, such as using ethanol as an oil product substitute to mitigate oil shocks, would be ineffective. Similarly, the benefits of such interventions depends on the macroeconomic impacts of price shocks from the sector. Relatedly, I show that a liability rule designed to reduce risk from low-probability, high-consequence oil spills have very low compliance costs.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "A thesis submitted to the School of Engineering and Industrial Design, University of Western Sydney, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy." Includes bibliographical references and appendices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 371-411).

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This thesis analyze the impact on recycling from the increase in the deposit on metal cans that took place in Sweden, September 2010. This is done by using a fixed effects model, fixed on municipality, month, and year. Additionally, the thesis investigates the response of different socioeconomic groups to this change by investigating the interaction between deposit and variables for the socioeconomic factors of interest. Interactions for income, education, immigration, environmental awareness, and population density are investigated. The results show that, on avarage, the recycling in each of the Swedish municipalities have increased by 24.739 units per month, this represents an elasticity of recycling with respect to container deposit of 0.04. The results further indicate that there is strong negative interaction between deposit and income, suggesting that as income increases, the individual will be less responsive to a change in deposit. Contrary to theory, the results indicate positive interaction between deposit and education, indicating that, as education increases the individual becomes more responsive to a change in deposit.

<p> Evaluating trends of historical rainfall on a weekly and seasonal basis is needed for optimizing the design and implementation of lawn water conservation strategies like outdoor water restrictions. While &ldquo;day of the week&rdquo; water restrictions are a typical strategy to limit the frequency and duration of urban lawn water use, they may not necessarily result in more conservative behaviors from end-users. Because weekly rainfall and local climate variables are seldom taken into account in water restriction strategies, they are not connected to actual lawn water demand. However, since lawn water demand is directly related to weekly rainfall totals, not to a particular number of watering days per week, water restriction schedules have the potential to unintentionally promote overwatering. This study investigated the weekly patterns of average seasonal rainfall and evapotranspiration in South Florida to determine the typical variability of weekly net irrigation needs and found that typical wet season weekly rainfall often provides a significant amount of water to meet the demand of residential lawns and landscapes. This finding underscores opportunity to reduce supplemental overwatering in residential landscapes if watering guidelines were modified to recognize seasonal average weekly rainfall in this region. </p><p> This study also tested a rainfall-based water conservation strategy to determine if providing residents with information about how local rainfall could promote more effective lawn watering behavior than just water restrictions alone. Experimental households reduced lawn water use by up to 61% compared to the control group by the end of the study. These results demonstrate that the neighborhood &ldquo;rain-watered lawn&rdquo; signs helped experimental study group households become more aware of rainfall as the primary input of water to their lawns. This study also investigated the role that lawn irrigation from self-supplied sources plays in the urban lawn water demand and investigates how the lawn water use and lawn watering behaviors of households that source from self-supply differ from those who source from the public supply.</p>