Zugl.: Hohenheim, Univ., Diss., 2009

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-127).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 168 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-168). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

The aim of this report was to establish what category the harbour porpoise is listed as on the Swedish national redlist as well as analyze what potential sub-criteria the species fulfills besides criteria already established. The aim was also to evaluate the willingness to pay for conservation of the harbour porpoise for the first time and make a comparison of the willingness to pay between geographic places where the harbour porpoise is currently existing and where it is not. The subpopulation of the harbour porpoise in Skagerrak-Kattegat is listed as vulnerable (VU) on the national redlist and the subpopulation in the Baltic sea is listed as critically endangered (CR). Actions and precautions which have been made for conservation and protection of the harbour porpoises in Swedish waters are new Swedish laws and law proposals as well as formations of organizations such as ASCOBANS and further research. The results from the survey showed that the mean of the single time payment sum those questioned were prepared to pay to retain the porpoises at a stable population level was 273 SEK. Geographically the study showed no significant difference in geographic position and where the harbour porpoise exists but showed that the inhabitants of the south-east coast were willing to pay about half the sum, 165 SEK, of the mean sum that the north-east coast were willing to pay, 335 SEK. The results regarding the populations’ conjecture of historical threats and threats nowadays showed a significant difference from reality. Overfishing of prey had the highest amount of answers as a threat both historically and nowadays. Bycatch, which is accepted as todays biggest threat by researchers and organizations, came third place in the results from the survey study with a percentage of 14.5 %.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF ANDISIWE STUURMAN, for the Master of Science degree in Geography and Environmental Resources, presented on APRIL 10, 2015, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: AN ASSESSMENT OF ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION IN SOUTH AFRICA USING A SURVEY OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Silvia Secchi Abandoned mines are those in which mining activity has ceased and there is no entity or company that can be traced to take responsibility for their maintenance or reclamation. It has been reported that there are approximately 6,150 abandoned mines in South Africa and it is estimated that it will cost $US4.2 billion to rehabilitate these mines over a very long period of time. The South African Department of Mineral Resources has set a reclamation target of 12 abandoned mines per year. This low target is what led to the interest in understanding the dynamics of abandoned mine reclamation in South Africa. An online survey of environmental experts in South Africa was conducted from December 2014 to January 2015 to elicit their opinions on the public's perception of abandoned mine reclamation and to assess whether their views are aligned in terms the cost of reclamation, sources of funding, how to accelerate the process of reclamation and credible sources of information for environmental issues. A total of 54 responses were collected, with good representation of respondents from each province in South Africa although the majority came from Gauteng, Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. The results of the survey revealed that there are several challenges that are slowing down the process of reclamation in South Africa including limited sources of funding, water resources at risk, and disproportionate ratio of experts between the private and public sector. About 80% of the respondents in the survey said that the public would not be willing to contribute towards a reclamation fund. A majority of the respondents who consider themselves experts in reclamation were of the opinion that the government and the mining industry should be primarily responsible for reclamation. After careful review of the results and other government reports related to reclamation in South Africa, it appears that the establishment of an abandoned mine reclamation fund would be a good policy for South Africa, as would be conducting studies to explore possible funding options, ring-fencing tax money for special purposes such as reclamation of abandoned mines, and developing guidelines and standards for abandoned mine reclamation or land reclamation.

Wilderness areas provide a wide array of quality nature experiences including primitive recreational opportunities in a primeval condition. However, a lot of these ecological and pristine sites suffer from disturbance and environmental degradation by the exhaustive human recreational use on campsites. Most of the impacts associated with camping gradually become a critical concern since they can be devastating to a wilderness environment and the affiliated experience. This study employed the contingent valuation method to determine peoples' willingness to pay for the preservation of the Panther Den Wilderness if campsites were restricted /limited, and to estimate an economic value of non-market goods and services affiliated to the preservation and use values of the Panther Den Wilderness. A Contingent valuation questionnaire was administered to gather information on the respondent's intentions and to determine what they would be willing to pay under a hypothetical scenario. Moon's WTP model estimated the willingness to pay relationship with a set of explanatory and socio-demographic variables including bid sizes, miles traveled, recreation times, campsite impacts observed, age, gender, and education. Results revealed that there was a clear relationship between the respondents' willingness to pay, the pre-determined bid-size/fee level, and the distance traveled to the Panther Den Wilderness, hence; the correlation between the variables was highly significant. The estimated mean willingness to pay value for the preservation of the Panther Den Wilderness was $9.56 per visitor. Overall, the estimated results and mean willingness to pay value served as the interpretation of an assessment which clearly revealed that outdoor recreation users were willing to pay a user fee for the preservation of the Panther Den Wilderness regardless of campsite limitations or restrictions.

xii, 150 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Environmental regulations are increasingly subjected to benefit-cost analysis as an aid to decision-making in policy. Economic benefits are most appropriately measured by the tradeoffs of other goods and services that people are willing to make to obtain reductions in risks to their lives and health. The measure of willingness to pay ( WTP ) allows for this comparison. These benefits from risk reductions are likely to vary systematically by characteristics of the individual, including the number and ages of children present in the household, and by the type of health threat under consideration. In chapter one of this dissertation, I write a brief introduction. In the second chapter, I examine an important methodological issue--the extent of "scenario adjustment" in a Stated Preference ( SP ) conjoint choice experiment in the context of a household survey concerning health risk reductions. Scenario adjustment occurs when respondents assume that a substantive alternative in a choice set, in their own particular case, will be different than the survey instrument describes. This is a potential source of bias in SP research similar to scenario rejection, but harder to detect. I analyze the impact of scenario adjustment on WTP and suggest a possible correction. In the third chapter, I address the empirical question of patterns in adults' WTP for health risk reductions. I find that demand is influenced by the presence of children, the numbers of children in different age brackets currently in the household, and, for health risks with latency periods, by the prospect of children still being present when a parent's ill health begins or death occurs. In chapter four, I find systematic differences in WTP for health risk reductions across different types of major health threats, such as Alzheimer's disease versus heart attacks. I also look for evidence of a cancer premium due to the dread factor associated with the prospect of cancer. The health threats considered include chronic heart disease, sudden heart attacks, five types of cancers, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and traffic accidents. In chapter five, I conclude. This dissertation includes previously unpublished co-authored material. / Committee in charge: Trudy Cameron, Chairperson, Economics; William Harbaugh, Member, Economics; Robin McKnight, Member, Economics; Ronald Mitchell, Outside Member, Political Science

O presente trabalho analisa a implantação de uma metodologia de cobrança pelo uso da água no qual os aspectos econômicos e ambientais são considerados como variáveis fundamentais na determinação do valor a ser cobrado. Evidencia formas de mensurar a capacidade de pagamento dos usuários de água, a fim de confrontar este dado com os valores da cobrança. Os resultados apontam que dependendo do grau de saturação do corpo d\'água, mesmo com capacidade de pagamento positiva, alguns setores teriam dificuldades de honrar com o pagamento de cobrança, o que evidencia a importância de um processo de gestão que considere o binômio localização - tipologia no processo de tomada de decisão quanto à implantação de atividades econômicas. Outro aspecto interessante se refere a elasticidade preço da demanda. Dependendo das condições de elasticidade uma unidade de produção, mesmo com situação financeira precária, estaria em condições de honrar com o pagamento da cobrança. / This study analyses the introduction of a method for levied on the use of water in which economic and environmental aspect, are considered as basic variables in the determination of the amount to be charged. It presents various ways for measuring the willingness of the users to pay for water in order to compare it to the the charges levied. The willingness to pay is an important mechanism for obtaining information about the economic impact of the policy of levying taxes. The results show that, depending upon the saturation degree of the water bodies, some sectors would have difficulty in paying the charges even when they show positive willingness to pay. It shows the importance of a management policy that considers the duality site-type in the decision-making process as regards the implantation of economic activities. Elasticity in demand prices is another important factor in this process. Depending upon the conditions of elasticity, a production unit would be able to honor its tax liabilities despit its delicate financial situation.

In the age of Web 2.0 users contribute to platforms success by providing personal information by actively uploading information (e.g. messages, preferences, biographies) and also by leaving traces of their online behavoiour as can be derived from their clicks, navigation paths, etc. While there is a market for trading such information among companies, there is little knowledge about how users actually value their personal information. In an online survey-based experiment we have asked 1.045 Facebook users how much they would be willing to pay for keeping their personal information. Surprisingly, 48.1 percent of participants are not willing to pay a single Euro, - thus, valuing their information at zero. Results indicate that people that show 'spamming' behaviour and users that use Facebook for 'diary keeping' are significantly more willing to pay a certain amount higher than zero to be able to keep their personal Facebook information. Interestingly, having analysed various kinds of user behaviour, the regression model still explains no more than 14.2 percent of variance. Additionally, this article discusses four different method manipulations for eliciting people's willingness to pay for personal information and provides methodical guidance for future research in the field.

In this paper we address the problem of negative estimates of willingness to pay. We find that there exist a number of goods and services, especially in the fields of marketing and environmental valuation, for which only zero or positive WTP is meaningful. For the valuation of these goods an econometric model for the analysis of repeated dichotomous choice data is proposed. Our model restricts the domain of the estimates of WTP to strictly positive values, while also allowing for the detection of zero WTP. The model is tested on a simulated and a real data set.