Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a serious public health issue in many areas of South and South East Asia. One study estimates that in Cambodia over 100,000 people are exposed, with the majority of those living in Kandal Province. In this thesis we present 3 original empirical studies focused on estimating nonmarket values for reduced arsenic risk water, based on primary data collected in May 2013. We also present a review paper which discusses the various economic techniques which have typically been used to estimate welfare values for cost-benefit analysis of mitigation strategies or appraisal of drinking water standards. The first empirical paper presents the results of a discrete choice experiment (DCE)to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) values for reduced arsenic water. We discuss the results of scale-extended latent class choice models and underlying differences in preferences and choice consistency. We find that a reduction in the permissible limit on arsenic in drinking water may best represent underlying household preferences for risk. The second empirical paper presents the results of a split sample choice experiment focusing on differences between money (WTP) and labour contributions (WTWork) as payment vehicles in terms of choice behaviour and attribute non-attendance. We find that the results from the two experiments are relatively consistent which reinforces our results from the previous chapter that focuses on WTP measures alone and adds credibility to the large numbers of DCEs conducted in rural areas of developing countries. The final empirical paper examines actual household behaviour relative to an arsenic testing and education campaign run by a local NGO. We find that the vast majority of households change their drinking water source upon being informed that it is unsafe. On average households that switch increase their expenditures. In doing so however they also reduce the amount of time spent collecting water which limits the use of expenditure changes as an approximation of welfare values.

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.

Farmland preservation has long been viewed by the public as a worthwhile endeavor. A public program can be set up to bring willing buyers and sellers together to facilitate the transfer of development rights. The farmer is paid for the opportunity cost of forfeiting the development rights to the land, while the general public is taxed the amount of their total benefit created by the existence of farmland. Through the data from an attribute-based choice survey (conducted in four geographic areas) the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of the public to preserve farmland that exhibited certain attributes, was estimated. The attributes included different use (grain, hay, vegetable, pasture, forest), location (near urban), quality (prime), size (varied acreage relative to geographic area sampled), and cost (varied costs from $3 to $50) components. Selection bias was tested for in order to confirm that the respondents are an unbiased representation of the geographic areas sampled. If selection bias was present, it would need to be corrected for in order to aggregate the survey results to the population of the geographic areas. Selection bias was tested for using a bivariate probit model with sample selection, a variation on the Heckman correction model. Selection bias was not significant, so the choice model was estimated using a probit model. The response was dependent on the use, location, quality, size, and cost components. Based on the parameter estimates, the geographic areas were compared using the scale parameter. A variation of the Swait and Louviere method was used to find the optimal scale parameter ratios between pair-wise geographic areas. Heterogeneity of the parameter estimates as well as heterogeneity of variances was tested. Prime farmland was significant and positive in all geographic areas, suggesting it should be included in the national ranking criteria for a farmland preservation program. WTP by household for each attribute was reported. Additionally, the WTP was aggregated to provide a hypothetical range of the monetary benefit farmland provides for the residents of each geographic area. / Master of Science

i Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies MASTER'S THESIS Are Sharks Worth More Alive Than Dead? A Stated Preference Study on Shark Ecotourism in Costa Rica. Author: Bc. Alicia Maria Berrios Supervisor: Mgr. Milan Ščasný PhD. Academic Year: 2016/2017 ii Declaration of Authorship The author hereby declares that he compiled this thesis independently; using only the listed resources and literature, and the thesis has not been used to obtain a different or the same degree. The author grants to Charles University permission to reproduce and to distribute copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Prague, January 01st , 2017 Signature iii Acknowledgments With boundless appreciation, I would like to extend my gratitude to Mgr. Milan Ščasný PhD., for his incredible support in writing this research. He spent a countless number of hours on this thesis work, and ultimately, this research wouldn't have been possible without him. I would also like to express my gratitude to Carlos Avila, for his generosity in helping me conduct the in-person interviews. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Melville Saayman, who helped tremendously in the experimental design of this work. Thank you to Mgr. Martin Kryl for programming the survey instrument. Lastly, I would like to...

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Fuel reduction treatments are management activities implemented to reduce the quantity of hazardous fuels in forests to decrease the probability of severe and intense wildfires. As nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners own most forests (77%) in Mississippi, their involvement is essential for effective and coordinated fuel reduction treatments to achieve a large-scale wildfire hazard reduction. However, NIPF landowner attitudes towards wildfire risk and mitigation activities implemented to reduce wildfire risk are not well understood. This study determined attitudes of NIPF landowners towards wildfires, current trends in implementation of fuel reduction treatments, socioeconomic and geospatial factors affecting treatment implementation, and landowner willingness to pay (WTP) for prescribed burning. Data were collected via a mail survey of NIPF landowners and public sources including Mississippi Forestry Commission and National Land Cover Database. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to quantify the WTP for prescribed burning. Data were analyzed using seemingly unrelated and binary probit, and binary logit models. Approximately 68% of landowners were concerned about wildfires, but only 45% implemented hazardous fuel reduction treatments. Prescribed burning was the most commonly implemented and the least costly treatment. Furthermore, only 30% of landowners were likely to implement fuel reduction treatments in the next five years. Past implementation of treatments, concern about property damages due to wildfires, familiarity with wildfire prevention and mitigation programs, size of forest land owned, ecological services ownership objectives, past experience with wildfires, and motivation from neighbors’ implementation of treatments were positively associated with the likelihood of implementing fuel reduction treatments in the next five years. Landowners were willing to pay from $14.70 to $66.86 per acre, with an average of $41.39 per acre, for implementing prescribed burning on their forest land. The payment amount was negatively related to WTP, whereas education level, tolerance of smoke from prescribed burns, concern about property damages due to wildfires, and consideration of liability issues as an important factor were positively related. Results will help better understand NIPF landowner wildfire mitigation activities and associated social and geospatial factors, and aid in the development of more effective strategies and resource allocation for wildfire prevention and mitigation.

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