Cette thèse explore différents problèmes méthodologiques associés à l'évaluation non-marchande. Dans la première partie, je m'intéresse à certaines difficultés posées par l'élicitation des préférences. En particulier, j'analyse les performances d'un nouveau format d'élicitation pour réduire le biais d'ancrage des consentements à payer (Chapitre 1). J'étudie aussi l'effet de la confiance dans les institutions sur les comportements de protestation dans les questionnaires d'évaluation (Chapitre 2). La seconde partie de la thèse est dédiée à l'analyse statistique des consentements à payer. Je compare les modèles de régressions quantiles avec les modèles standards pour mesurer leur capacité à prendre en compte des caractéristiques récurrentes des données de consentement à payer (Chapitre 3). Je propose aussi un test pour un nouveau type de biais de publication (Chapitre 4). Dans la dernière partie, je m'intéresse aux problèmes d'équité liés à l'agrégation des consentements à payer pour mesurer les bénéfices d'un projet, et le rôle joué par les besoins de subsistance (Chapitre 5). / In this thesis I explore different methodological issues arising in non-market valuation. In the first part of the thesis, I try to provide solutions to some problems of preference elicitation. In particular, I analyze the performance of a new elicitation format to reduce anchoring bias in multiple willingness to pay (WTP) elicitation (Chapter 1) and I propose a new strategy to identify the effect of trust in institution on protesting behaviors (Chapter 2). The second part of the thesis is devoted to the statistical analysis of WTP. I compare quantile regression models with standard models to assess their respective ability to account for recurrent issues in WTP data (Chapter 3), I also propose a test for a new type of publication bias (Chapter 4). In the last part of the thesis, I investigate the equity issues in WTP aggregation as a measure of benefits, and the role of subsistence needs (Chapter 5).

This research investigated the general association between corporate environmental performance and the firms’ annual returns independent of any particular environmental event. The association analysis was based on the most recent environmental data for the years 2006, 2007, and 2008. The results indicated that while some environmental variables were significantly associated with firms’ returns, the majority were not. The results also indicated that environmental concerns were more likely to be associated with increase in the firm value than were environmental strengths; however, there were no mean differences between firms whose environmental performance increased as compared with those whose performance deteriorated. Overall, the results provided support for the perspective that environmental strengths require firm expenditures that place additional financial burdens on firms, resulting in lower stock returns.

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I estimate the total economic value to Mississippians of restoring and re-using the Alcazar Hotel in Clarksdale, MS using a combined travel cost, contingent behavior, and contingent valuation method based on Eom and Larson's (2006) combined travel cost and contingent valuation method. I find that Mississippians hold a positive average total value of about $23 per person over a three-year visitation period. Using Eom and Larson's (2006) framework, I am able to calculate the use and non-use value of restoration in a theoretically consistent manner and find that the majority of the total value of restoration is non-use value. This finding suggests that the use of non-market valuation methods that require the researcher to assume away non-use value is inappropriate when valuing culturally and historically significant sites.

This dissertation consists of two essays on housing, the first on estimation strategies for the valuation of a local disamenity and the second on the structure of the market for the services of real estate brokers. The purpose of the first essay is to apply hedonic and quasi-experimental methods to measure the value of any disamenity caused by communication antennas. Crucial to unbiased estimates is accounting for both endogenous antenna location and changes in unobservable housing and neighborhood characteristics. Spatial fixed effects are used to control for unobservable characteristics that can influence the location decisions of residents and the location of antennas. Panel data techniques are used to address both time invariant and time varying unobservables and to account for possible changes in the hedonic price function after construction of a nearby antenna. The estimates indicate that houses near communication antennas sell less than comparable houses not located near a communication antenna, and also highlight a shortcoming of applying the difference-in-differences technique to value a local disamenity when houses are affected by the presence of multiple sites. The second essay compares the performance of brand name franchised and independent real estate brokers with respect to list price, sales price, time on the market, and prevalence in areas with more out-of-state buyers using techniques that control for the different types of agents that choose to affiliate with franchised real estate brokerage firms. The results indicate that most of the difference in the sales price and the time it takes to locate a buyer can be explained by the types of agents that choose to affiliate with franchised brokerage firms, and that on average weaker agents choose to affiliate with franchised real estate firms. In addition, there is an indication that properties in areas with larger shares of out-of-state residents are more likely to be sold by a franchised broker. This result is consistent with the industrial organization literature on franchising that says franchising should be more prevalent in areas where consumers are less familiar with the local market.

<p>This study focuses on valuation of natural resources and particularly valuation of the quality of a natural resource. The aim is to value an improvement of water quality, measured as sight depth, in the bay Himmerfjärden in the Stockholm archipelago. It is desirable to attain a value of a one metre sight depth improvement in Himmerfjärden and to analyse how a sight depth improvement affects the demand for travelling to Himmerfjärden. A condtional logit model is applied to obtain these values from survey data. The benefits of a one metre sight depth improvement in Himmerfjärden, will yield 162 260-1 599 420 SEK per year, adjusted to the price level of 2007. The estimated value depends on how travel time is treated and whether a commute variable is included or not. Furthermore will a one per cent sight depth improvement in Himmerfjärden increase the demand for travelling to Himmerfjärden with approximately 0.13-0.18 trips on a given choice occasion. These results indicate that there are values attained to the quality of a natural resource.</p>

We explore the relationship between the stock market value of firms and patent quality using a recently developed composite index measure. The study is conducted on 137 firms during 1991-2015, which provides 914 unique firm year observations. By defining patent quality through patent value indicators, we analyze each indicator’s relationship to the market value of firms. We find that an extra citation per patent increases a firm’s market value by 5 %, and an extra patent family member per patent increases a firm’s market value by 4 %. Patent counts and patent grants show slight negative effects on the market value of firms. Using the composite index measure, we divide our sample into quartiles containing the most important and least important patents. With the use of this methodological framework, we show that the market can identify and separate the more important patents from the less important patents.

Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the economic efficiency of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

The origin of market value has not been sufficiently explored in the social sciences. While there is a tendency among economists and sociologists to see value as imported to the market from external sources (e.g. culture, internal preferences), I argue that shifts in market value are often endogenous to the market setting. Perceptions of value, or collective beliefs that specific sets of assets will yield benefits for the owner, are most malleable when markets are unstable. Instability is caused by intense competition and rapid technological change, both of which upset firms' abilities to make consistent profits and retain their market position. Instability amplifies general uncertainty about the best ways to create value.Perceptions of value emerge in unstable markets as firms monitor and mimic their peers, who act as information proxies about the future value of assets. I look at acquisitions within the communications industries from 1997 to 2002 to assess this claim. I expect that firms acquire target assets in the same segments as their closest competitors and market leaders. Unstable market conditions amplify the extent to which firms use their peers to guide their acquisition choices. The collective flow of acquisitions caused by this mimicry creates perceptions of value that become reflected in concrete, standard measures of market value. Investors and other third-party observers use peer behavior as an interpretive frame for estimating value creation. They assume the collective acquisitions are social proof that value is being created and this is reflected in their investment behavior, which in turn drives up the stock prices of acquiring firms.Regression findings support these propositions; although there is weak evidence that market value gains from peer mimicry are long-term. Instead, I find that using peers to frame acquisition value tends to lead to initial overvaluation, which is subsequently corrected through a long-term value discount. I suggest that unstable market conditions tend to lead to speculative behavior and inefficient market pricing.

This research documents the societal worth of riparian resources in the Southwestern United States. Two case studies are developed for this inquiry, the first being Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness in Southern Arizona, an area containing one of the last perennial streams in the Sonoran Desert bioregion. A hiking use value per visitor-day is estimated via the Travel Cost Method at $25.06 and $17.31 (2003 dollars) respectively for two access sites. I hypothesize the value discrepancy to indicate a premium for remote recreation. These valuation results compare well with other published recreational use value estimates, though it is the only valuation study associated with instream recreation in the Sonoran Desert of which I am aware. Indeed the environmental valuation literature is thin for the desert region in any respect.The second case study values public restoration preferences for the Albuquerque reach of the Rio Grande in Central New Mexico. A Choice Experiment and Contingent Valuation are employed within an original survey instrument to estimate human values for various restoration strategies planned for the region. Through focus groups and stakeholder interactions four restoration attributes were defined: vegetation density; tree type; fish and wildlife population; and natural river processes. Quantified values for Albuquerque area households were estimated for each restoration attribute level of change, allowing construction of total benefits anticipated for various restoration scenarios considered for the region. This research is at the vanguard of quantifying human benefit for saltcedar control, and this particular restoration characteristic was the most highly valued of all, at $59.03 per household per year. Full restoration was valued at $156.60 per household per year. These results have meaning beyond the study area since river restoration efforts are increasing across the Western US, with many focusing on controlling saltcedar, an exotic invasive plant.The final phase of this research integrates riparian valuation concepts within a dynamic simulation framework to guide systems-level riparian management. Control variables are combined with known valuation pathways to predict riparian investment funding optimal in benefit-cost ratio. The model is built for the Middle Rio Grande in Albuquerque, however it was designed for easy adaptation to other Southwestern riparian areas. A detailed forest module is included, through which seven defined forest stocks may be managed through thinning, clearing, and revegetation. River management may occur through environmental river flow releases, reconstructing stream-overbank connections, and wetland construction. Recreational amenities may be improved through the four infrastructure categories of trails, toilet facilities, picnic areas, and parking areas. Benefits and costs are estimated through original research and region benefit transfer, and tracked for different investment scenarios to predict the highest-return strategies over a 100 year planning horizon. A sensitivity analysis is used to suggest areas of future research.