Aiming at exploring the issue of duality of the Swedish government system and the possible influence of a detached public administration, a study of bureaucrats’ characteristics, potential preferences and consequent willingness to pay (WTP) for certain policies was needed. This research attempts therefore at investigating how acceptance of CO2 emissions reduction programs among public agents is influenced by factors such as the cost of the program, concerns with air quality, impacts on biodiversity, improvements in the fuelling stations infrastructure, the use of electricity as fuel and individual characteristics such as gender. Subsequently what impact these predictors have on bureaucrats from different public agencies’ WTP for the same programs. For the estimates, binary probit regressions were performed. The results revealed significance of the attributes for the decision over accepting one of the scenarios, particularly the additional information of a budget constraint. However, it was possible to conclude that WTP did not vary significantly among agencies.

Urban forests provide environmental, social, and economic benefits to urban residents. These benefits are often overlooked when making spatial and financial distributive decisions in urban areas. The City of Tampa has demonstrated interest in its urban forest resource and estimated its extent and some of the benefits provided. Estimating economic values for benefits that have not been quantified can help to ensure that resources are distributed more efficiently. Five methods to estimate urban forest benefits in the City of Tampa are reviewed, with contingent valuation being the method chosen out of this review process. A mailed, dichotomous choice contingent valuation survey was executed with two points of contact, yielding 107 responses for a 21.4 percent response rate. Despite positively rating the City’s urban forest, the majority of respondents (62.6 percent) were willing to pay for it to increase. The Turnbull distribution-free estimator was used to estimate a lower bound of $3.23 for willingness to pay to increase Tampa’s urban forest resource by 250,000 trees. Willingness to pay was positively associated with income and education. The survey responses also yielded important attitudinal and behavioral information that can help local decision makers increase the efficiency of urban forest distribution, maintenance, and promotion.

Increased possibilitiesof choosing one’s school of preference hasbeen raised as a key factor in many countries to promote equal opportunitiesand higher quality of education. This has been endorsed by policymakers whoassume that students make well-informed rational choices and that students only stress academic quality whendeciding which school to attend. If this is true, it will benefit schools ofhigh academic quality, rendering improved school quality overall. To date,little research has examined the validity of these assumptions despite theprofound effects they have had for changing the school systems in manycountries. This study employs an experimental approach to investigate therelative importance of attributes in school choice. Specifically the study isbased on experimental data from 587 prospective high school students inHalmstad, Sweden. The purpose is to contrast the principal school qualityattributes behind the policy change (academic reputation and programfeasibility), with the presence of friends and geographical attributes such asdistance, location and accessibility, while controlling for individualcharacteristics. The results are disturbing as they reveal flaws in theassumptions that motivated the school choice policy reform. The study presents evidence of differencesin preferences and that grades are the most important background characteristic for this difference. The study also shows that all studentsare not rational to the same extent as theory predicts. Hence theSwedish school reforms have been based on a slightly biased theory. Finally, the study indicates that differentgeographic contexts (e.g. where the studentslive) affect students' preferences.

This diploma thesis is concerned with the use of the choice experiment method for modelling travel behaviour. The main scope of this diploma thesis is to find the main attributes for the individual's decision making about the student's choice of mean of transport. The models have been applied to long intercity trips between Prague and Brno. The model specification combines trip-based characteristics with socioeconomic characteristics. There are numerous European and US studies which have been conducted in a national context. In recent years, studies have been implemented also in the Czech Republic, but none of them focus on the specific segment of students. The principles of the choice experiment come out from the Lancaster' characteristics theory of value and random utility theory. The multinominal logit is used to the choice experiment analysis.

Um Strommärkte so zu konzipieren damit sie sowohl zur Verringerung der Nutzung fossiler Brennstoffe als auch zur Deckung des steigenden Energiebedarfes beitragen, ist Wissen über die Präferenzen der Konsumenten notwendig. Die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation untersucht Präferenzen für Elektrizitätsattribute von privaten Haushalten und trägt zu einem tieferen Verständnis dieser in unterschiedlichen Kontextsituationen bei. Der erste Artikel betrachtet statistische Methoden um die zwei am häufigsten angewandten Modelle – das Random Parameter Logit und das Latent Class Logit Modell – zu vergleichen. Der Artikel trägt dazu bei, den Prozess der Modellwahl zu verbessern und für die angewandte Forschung im Energiebereich anzupassen. Basierend auf den empirischen Ergebnissen des ersten Artikels untersucht der zweite Artikel die Präferenzen von privaten Haushalten in Hyderabad, Indien mit besonderem Fokus auf die physische Qualität der Energieversorgung. Die Ergebnisse deuten auf eine geringe Zahlungsbereitschaft der Konsumenten hin. Jedoch unterscheiden sich die Präferenzen der Haushalte. Die Artikel 3 und 4 basieren auf Datenerhebungen in Deutschland. Im dritten Artikel werden die Präferenzen privater Haushalte hinsichtlich der Organisationsform von Stromanbietern untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Kunden bereit sind mehr zu zahlen, wenn die Stromversorgung von Genossenschaften oder Stadtwerken übernommen wird. Der vierte Artikel betrachtet die Erfolgsfaktoren von Energiegenossenschaften in Deutschland. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Governance des Stromanbieters die Zahlungsbereitschaft für Strom beeinflussen. Insbesondere Genossenschaften werden den großen Privatunternehmen und Aktiengesellschaften vorgezogen. / In order to design electricity markets to simultaneously reduce the share of fossil fuels in energy production and meet the increasing demand for electricity, knowledge on consumer preferences is necessary. The goal of this cumulative dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of preferences of private households for electricity supply attributes in different contexts. In Paper 1 I review statistical methods to compare two frequently applied models, the random parameters logit and the latent class logit. The methods presented here can be readily used by other researchers and practitioners to better understand model performance which ultimately contributes to improving model choice in applied energy research. Based on the empirical findings of Paper 1, Paper 2 identifies preferences of private households in Hyderabad in India for electricity supply quality. The results indicate that willingness to pay for improvements are, on average, rather low. However, the preferences strongly vary between subjects. Papers 3 and 4 investigate preferences of German private households. In \textbf{Paper 3}, the respondents stated their preferences for the organization of the electricity distribution company under different renewable energy scenarios. It turned out that most people are willing to pay more for electricity supplied by municipally-owned companies and cooperatives. This additional willingness to pay increases disproportionally when the share of renewable energy is high. The paper identifies non-profit orientated distribution companies as potential drivers of the energy transition. Paper 4 investigates the determinants for the success of energy cooperatives in Germany. The results indicate that the governance of distribution companies impacts the choices of private households for electricity supply contracts. Especially, people preferred cooperative-like governance attributes.

In 1993, a travel study was conducted along the Wasatch front in Utah (Research Systems Group INC, 2013). The main purpose of this study was to assess travel behavior to understand the needs for future growth in Utah. Since then, the Research Service Group (RSG), conducted a new study in 2012 to understand current travel preferences in Utah. This survey, called the Residential Choice Stated Preference survey, asked respondents to make ten choice comparisons between two hypothetical homes. Each home in the choice comparison was described by different attributes, those attributes that were used are, type of neighborhood, distance from important destinations, distance from access to public transport, street design, parking availability, commute distance to work, and price. The survey was designed to determine the extent to which Utah residents prefer alternative household attributes in a choice selection. Each attribute contained multiple characteristic levels that were randomly combined to define each alternative home in each choice comparison. Those choices can be explained by Random Utility Theory. Multinomial logistic regression will be used to estimate changes in utility when alternative attribute levels are present in a choice comparison. Using the coefficient estimate for price, a marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for each attribute level will be calculated. This paper will use two different approaches to obtain MWTP estimates. Method One will use housing and rent price to recode the price variable in dollar terms as defined in the discrete choice experiment. Method Two will recode the price variable as an average ten percent change in home value to extrapolate a one-time payment for homes. As a result, we found that it is possible to obtain willingness to pay estimates using both methods. The resulting interpretations in dollar terms became more relatable. Metropolitan planning organization can use these results to understand how residents perceive home value in dollar terms in the context of location-based attributes for homes.

Increased possibilitiesof choosing one’s school of preference hasbeen raised as a key factor in many countries to promote equal opportunitiesand higher quality of education. This has been endorsed by policymakers whoassume that students make well-informed rational choices and that students only stress academic quality whendeciding which school to attend. If this is true, it will benefit schools ofhigh academic quality, rendering improved school quality overall. To date,little research has examined the validity of these assumptions despite theprofound effects they have had for changing the school systems in manycountries. This study employs an experimental approach to investigate therelative importance of attributes in school choice. Specifically the study isbased on experimental data from 587 prospective high school students inHalmstad, Sweden. The purpose is to contrast the principal school qualityattributes behind the policy change (academic reputation and programfeasibility), with the presence of friends and geographical attributes such asdistance, location and accessibility, while controlling for individualcharacteristics. The results are disturbing as they reveal flaws in theassumptions that motivated the school choice policy reform. The study presents evidence of differencesin preferences and that grades are the most important background characteristic for this difference. The study also shows that all studentsare not rational to the same extent as theory predicts. Hence theSwedish school reforms have been based on a slightly biased theory. Finally, the study indicates that differentgeographic contexts (e.g. where the studentslive) affect students' preferences.

I denna uppsats skattas betalningsviljan hos besökarna på Peace & Love-festivalen år 2011. Med hjälp av enkätdata baserad på avslöjade och uttalade preferenser presenteras en regressionsanalys med olika oberoende variabler som karaktäriserar en festivalbesökare. Total budget är den beroende variabeln i regressionsanalysen och tolkas i uppsatsen som ekvivalent med besökarnas betalningsvilja. Analysen visar att män i genomsnitt spenderar 301 kronor mer än kvinnor, att turister i genomsnitt spenderar 1 124 kronor mer än en icke-turist samt att den genomsnittliga besökaren har en betalningsvilja på 4 183 kronor. Ett skattat konsumentöverskott har också värderats, vilket uppgick till 743 kronor per person och cirka 37 miljoner kronor totalt för de 50 000 festivalbesökarna. Uppsatsen tar inte hänsyn till de ekonomiska effekter som festivalen har på Borlänge som stad. / In this thesis the willingness to pay among the visitors of peace & love-festival year 2011 is valued. With survey data based on revealed and stated preferences a regression analysis is presented with different independent variables that characterizes a festival visitor. Total budget is the dependent variable in the regression analysis and is, in this thesis, to be regarded as equivalent to visitors’ willingness to pay. The analysis shows that men in general spend 301 SEK more than women, tourists in general spend 1 124 SEK more than non-tourists and that the average visitor has a willingness to pay valued to 4 183 SEK. A consumer surplus has also been valued, which amounted to 743 SEK per visitor and around 37 million SEK in total for all 50,000 visitors. This thesis does not take into account the economic effects the festival holds on the city of Borlänge.

We estimate the willingness-to-pay for conserving crop diversity in the Czech Republic. Discrete choice experiments are used to elicit preferences for the conservation of wine, hop, and fruit tree varieties, while a double-bounded dichotomous choice approach is used to elicit preferences for the conservation of unspecified, "general" crop diversity. The WTP values are derived for both of these contingent products from a sample representative of the general Czech population (n=731) and a sample of respondents living in the South Moravian region that is characterized by agriculture and wine production (n=418). We demonstrate a strong preference for conserving fruit trees over hops and wine varieties, and derive positive mean WTP of the general Czech population (ages 18-69) of 56 Kč ($2.26). Mean WTP for the conservation of general crop diversity is 167 Kč ($6.80). On average, residents of South Moravia have a greater WTP for "general" crop as well as fruit tree conservation. In total, the Czech adult population (ages 18-69) has an aggregate WTP of ~1.25 billion Kč ($50.5 million) for the conservation of general crop diversity, and ~410 million Kč ($16.8 million) for the conservation of fruit trees, revealing the previously unmeasured social welfare benefits of these activities. The estimated benefits...

Les préférences des ménages français pour les travaux de rénovation énergétique dans le logement ont été peu étudiées jusqu’à présent. Or, elles sont la clé d’une politique énergétique efficace et réaliste pour le secteur résidentiel, tant au niveau des aides proposées, qu’au niveau des objectifs à réaliser. Les ménages sont-ils intéressés par des travaux à fort potentiel d’économie d’énergie ? Combien sont-ils prêt à payer et est-ce que c’est suffisant pour couvrir les coûts réels ? Combien de ménages n’ont pas le choix de leur mode de chauffage et quel est leur profil ?La thèse s'attache à répondre à ces questions de façon empirique à l’aide de modèles de choix discrets. Il s’agit, dans un premier temps, d’analyser les contraintes techniques, sociodémographiques et spatiales que rencontrent les ménages et qui entravent les choix énergétiques dans le logement. Une méthodologie de détection des ménages contraints a été proposée, puis appliquée au choix du chauffage en 2006 et 2013. Dans un deuxième temps, les préférences des ménages pour les équipements de chauffage et les travaux de rénovation ont été analysées. Cette deuxième partie utilise une enquête expérimentale qui a été réalisée spécialement pour ce travail de recherche auprès de 2000 ménages. Ce travail a permis de comprendre les préférences des ménages, leur hétérogénéité, et d’en déduire les consentements à payer, les taux d’actualisation implicites et les différents effets économiques. / Little research has been done to date on French households’ preferences for energy retrofits in the dwelling. However, the economic role of these choices is crucial for implementing an effective and realistic energy policy in the residential sector, both in terms of proposed aid and targets. Are households interested in retrofits with high energy-savings potential? How much are they willing to pay and is it sufficient to cover the up-front costs? How many households have no choice of heating system, and what is their profile?This work sets out to answer these questions empirically using discrete choice models. It starts by analyzing the technical, socio-demographic and spatial constraints that face households and create barriers to domestic energy choices. A method to detect household constraint is devised and applied to the choice of space heating system in 2006 and 2013. The second stage analyzes household preferences for heating equipment and retrofits. This second part is based on a discrete choice experiment specially carried out for this research among 2,000 households. This work sheds light on households’ preferences and heterogeneity, as well as their willingness to pay, the implicit discount rate and other economic impacts.