This study assessed the desirability for High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lanes in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) through stated preference and revealed traffic volume data gathering and analysis techniques. 4,000 surveys, distributed in five sample areas, asked respondents how much they would be willing to pay to escape congestion in eight unique trip conditions. Stated preference results found considerable public support for HOT-lanes in the GTA. In six out of eight trip conditions, a majority of respondents preferred to pay to travel in express lanes rather than endure congestion. Respondent willingness to pay (WTP) mean values varied considerably by trip condition. Willingness to pay to escape congestion was influenced by trip characteristics and driver factors. Trip urgency, traffic speed, and freeway trip distance were found to be statistically significant trip characteristic indicators of WTP. Previous exposure to electronic tolling and annual household income were found to be significant driver factor indicators of WTP in most trip conditions. Respondent gender and freeway travel frequency were found to be statistically significant driver factor indicators of WTP in some trip conditions. The presence of Hwy 407-ETR, an electronically tolled by-pass to Hwy 401, allowed for an examination of the effects of Hwy 401 volume and trip urgency on driver choice to use the tolled alternative. Results indicated that trip urgency and Hwy 401 volume were correlated with Hwy 407 throughput share. During periods of high trip urgency and high Hwy 401 volume, a substantial proportion of Hwy 401/407 corridor drivers chose to pay approximately $0.20/km to escape congestion.

This study assessed the desirability for High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lanes in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) through stated preference and revealed traffic volume data gathering and analysis techniques. 4,000 surveys, distributed in five sample areas, asked respondents how much they would be willing to pay to escape congestion in eight unique trip conditions. Stated preference results found considerable public support for HOT-lanes in the GTA. In six out of eight trip conditions, a majority of respondents preferred to pay to travel in express lanes rather than endure congestion. Respondent willingness to pay (WTP) mean values varied considerably by trip condition. Willingness to pay to escape congestion was influenced by trip characteristics and driver factors. Trip urgency, traffic speed, and freeway trip distance were found to be statistically significant trip characteristic indicators of WTP. Previous exposure to electronic tolling and annual household income were found to be significant driver factor indicators of WTP in most trip conditions. Respondent gender and freeway travel frequency were found to be statistically significant driver factor indicators of WTP in some trip conditions. The presence of Hwy 407-ETR, an electronically tolled by-pass to Hwy 401, allowed for an examination of the effects of Hwy 401 volume and trip urgency on driver choice to use the tolled alternative. Results indicated that trip urgency and Hwy 401 volume were correlated with Hwy 407 throughput share. During periods of high trip urgency and high Hwy 401 volume, a substantial proportion of Hwy 401/407 corridor drivers chose to pay approximately $0.20/km to escape congestion.

Introduction Movies are considered entertainment goods. Entertainment is one of the experience industries. Intangibility, perishability and heterogeneity are the most significant characteristics of the movie industry. An emotional reaction of consumers cannot be calculated in the same sense that most other physical goods can. If the movie succeeded in meeting the expectations, ticket price decreases will not necessarily indicate further purchases in the future. There are high risks and uncertainty in the movie industry. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to define through a hedonic price theory establishing whether the recognition is a significant factor to the global success of movies. The global success of the movies is determined by the global box office revenue. There are eight independent variables tested in this paper: global movie popularity, global popularity of the directors, global popularity of the authors, fame (determined by wining Academy Award), major studios, sequel, family genre and animation genre. Only one control variable, which is year of release, is included. Method The paper uses empirical model and the data set along with the results of the empirical analysis to achieve the purpose. Only secondary data were collected for the paper. Conclusion To reduce uncertainty in movie industry box office revenue, according to the data collected, recognition is significant to the consumers’ willingness to pay. The willingness to pay is determined by the global box office revenue. Only four independent variables, namely: sequels, Academy Award, the global popularity of the directors and the global popularity of the authors of the original script, are significant recognition factors to the global box office revenue. Movie producers shall be aware that consumers have to make sure utility gained from the consumption exceeds the costs in order to make purchases. Based on the sample collected, it can be summarized that consumers of the movie industry in general rely on previous consumption and recognition to reduce risks and uncertainty in terms of making purchases.

<p>In the first chapter of this dissertation, I outline a hedonic equilibrium model that explicitly controls for moving costs and forward-looking behavior. Hedonic equilibrium models allow researchers to recover willingness to pay for spatially delineated amenities by using the notion that individuals "vote with their feet." However, the hedonic literature and, more recently, the estimable Tiebout sorting model literature, has largely ignored both the costs associated with migration (financial and psychological), as well as the forward-looking behavior that individuals exercise in making location decisions. Each of these omissions could lead to biased estimates of willingness to pay. Building upon dynamic migration models from the labor literature, I estimate a fully dynamic model of individual migration at the national level. By employing a two-step estimation routine, I avoid the computational burden associated with the full recursive solution and can then include a richly-specified, realistic state space. With this model, I am able to perform non-market valuation exercises and learn about the spatial determinants of labor market outcomes in a dynamic setting. Including dynamics has a significant positive impact on the estimates of willingness to pay for air quality. In addition, I find that location-specific amenity values can explain important trends in observed migration patterns in the United States.</p><p>The second chapter of this dissertation describes a model which estimates willingness to pay for air quality using property value hedonics techniques. Since Rosen's seminal 1974 paper, property value hedonics has become commonplace in the non-market valuation of environmental amenities, despite a number of well-known methodological problems. In particular, recovery of the marginal willingness to pay function suffers from important endogeneity biases that are difficult to correct with instrumental variables procedures [Epple (1987)]. Bajari and Benkard (2005) propose a "preference inversion" procedure for recovering heterogeneous measures of marginal willingness to pay that avoids these problems. However, using cross-sectional data, their approach imposes unrealistic constraints on the elasticity of marginal willingness to pay. Following Bajari and Benkard's suggestion, I show how data describing repeat purchase decisions by individual home buyers can be used to relax these constraints. Using data on ozone pollution in the Bay Area of California, I find that endogeneity bias and flexibility in the shape of the marginal willingness to pay function are both important.</p><p>Finally, in the third chapter of this dissertation, I combine the insights of the Bajari-Benkard inversion approach employed in second chapter with more standard estimation techniques (i.e., Rosen (1974)) to arrive at a new hedonic methodology that allows for flexible and heterogeneous preferences while avoiding the endogeneity problems that plague the traditional Rosen two-stage model. Implementing this estimator using the Bay Area ozone data, I again find evidence of considerable heterogeneity and of endogeneity bias. In particular, I find that a one unit deterioration in air quality (measured in days in which ozone levels exceed the state standards) raises marginal willingness to pay by $145.18 per year. The canonical two-stage Rosen model finds, counter-intuitively, that this same change would reduce marginal willingness to pay by $94.24.</p> / Dissertation

In recent years, there are several studies concerning brand and fashion. Nonetheless, there are few studies conducted on fashion brand which concerns embodying various industries. Without a doubt, brand value is the key factor of fashion industries success. This study will try to research on the broader usage of brand value. The purpose of this study is to research the influence of consumer¡¦s purchasing intention and willingness to pay of the commodities under each product categories; after combining with the fashion brand, under the different evaluation of fashion brand. The four hypotheses in the study are directed towards the relationship between consumers recognized evaluation of fashion brand, purchasing intention and willingness to pay for the brand separately. Hence, the investigation here will be to scrutinize the change of consumer¡¦s purchasing intention and willingness to pay after combining with particular fashion brand. The following hypotheses will be tested through a designated questionnaire with the convenience sampling method. A total number of 197 questionnaires were returned. By using a number of statistical methods and exploring the relationship between each variances and testing each hypotheses, the following conclusions are generated¡G 1. The study infers that products are non-convenience goods¡Bunnecessary goods¡Bhigh-durability¡Bhigh-visibility¡Bhigh-using-frequency can increase the consumers¡¦ willingness to pay after combining with the fashion brand. 2. The fashion brand with high-brand-evaluation when combined with most of product categories¡¦ commodities will evidently boost consumers¡¦ purchasing intention and willingness to pay. Thus, we can try to develop more feasible proposal. 3. Even in the industries that are unsuitable to incorporate the idea of fashion, we may still be able to find a feasible proposal. 4. The study suggests that fashion brands do the wholly survey on the bicycle industry and analyze their possibility and potential in this industry. Further research on the market of bicycles should be directed specifically towards young women who earn lower than 1,500,000 per year. Keywords: Fashion, Brand, Evaluation of Fashion Brand Product Category, Purchasing Intention, Willingness to Pay

The growing importance of dogs in people’s lives and in high-density urban environments has increased demand for a place where people and their dogs can interact and exercise together. The recent increase in the number of dog parks across the country is evidence of these demands of dog owners and their companions. However, due to the absence of empirical study on dog parks and their attribute of non-market values, the benefits of dog parks are often underestimated and considered less in the decision making process regarding resource allocation. A post-occupancy evaluation at four dog parks was conducted to investigate use patterns of dog parks and user activities, to identify user preferences and the environmental factors influencing activities, to provide insights and guidelines in developing effective dog parks, and to estimate users’ willingness to pay for dog parks using contingent valuation method. A multiple-method approach was used to collect data including site observations and analysis, a questionnaire and behavioral mapping. The results indicated that dog parks received considerable use, served a variety of demographic groups and supported their exercise and social activities. Dog-park users were generally satisfied with dog parks but they expressed various preferences and needs. It is evident that dog parks are not only a place for dogs to exercise but a place for people to exercise, socialize, relax and enjoy greenery just like other parks. Proximity of dog parks was found to be a critical factor in encouraging frequent dog park use and satisfying users’ needs. Over eighty percent of survey respondents expressed that they were willing to pay an annual fee for dog parks, indicating the importance of visiting dog parks as outdoor recreation. Conservative estimate of average willingness to pay was $56.17/ household/ year. Satisfaction with maintenance and facilities, income, education and family size were found to be significantly associated with willingness to pay. These results could assist local governments and park planners in estimating aggregate monetary value of the dog parks and cost-benefit analysis to justify the development and maintenance of dog parks. Design guidelines and recommendations were generated based on the empirical findings for future design of dog parks.

The Research on Revaluing the Development of Taiwan in Feng Shang Reservoir in Kaohsiung Abstract Since weekend holidays were carried out, the government has emphasized the tourist recreation and advocated making state-run enterprises with special scenic spots open to the public for promoting use value of their resources. With a trend of economic liberalization, government businesses such as TSC, TPC, and TSIC need operating in diversification and start investing in the tourist industry, each of which is owned based on the government¡¦s initiating plans for increasing the number of tourists. The protective areas of water resource that belong to TWSC are abundant in the ecological environment; however, forbidding people to go there has led to an obvious phenomenon against the unique sources shared by the masses. On one hand, this research, by opening Feng Shang Reservoir in Kaohsiung, can make people closed to water, realize the processing water, understand the importance of water resources to construct a society concerning about water. On the other hand, by using the natural resources there well and multiplying services to attract tourists, it not only has the educational function implied in entertainment but also augments income. But running the protective area of water resources as a tourist site will cause some negative effects of environment and water pollution as well as the anxiety about scaring migratory birds. Therefore, the protection and management of water resources must be under the cautious control. Making use of CVM, this research regards Feng Shang Reservoir as a fictitious market, and the visitors there as research objects of the investigation questionnaire. Besides analyzing the topics like the Development Market Potential, Future Use Benefits, Non-User Benefits¡Ketc, the aims of the research include inspecting the attitudes of customers toward the willingness to participate in and to pay according to the interviewees¡¦ different attitudes of social experiences, different preferences of outside recreations, different identifications of the nature¡Ketc. The results are the followings: 1. Feng Shang Reservoir possesses the market potential. 2. Future use Benefits estimated between $NT30,000,000 and $NT50,000,000 every year are high. 3. Non-User Benefits estimated between $NT160,000,000 and $NT220,000,000 every year are quite high. 4. For the attitudes of customers, labors, government employees, staffs of public school, and people of middle and old age who recognize more about the nature have high willingness to participate in; the common people who recognize less about the nature need to inspire their willingness through educational advocacy. Judging from the above results, this research advises that after appropriately developing Feng Shang Reservoir to the masses, the educational functions of water resources and the social benefits of environment are shared by all the society, which are equal to the return for society and even to TWSC¡¦s positive performance. Keywords¡GCVM(Contingent Valuation Method), WTP(Willingness To Pay), Tourism, Revalue, Feng Shang Reservoir.

This research aimed to apply the theory of environmental benefits valuation to assess the plan of reformation in Zhongtun and Jiangmei village¡¦s wetland. Environmental change affects economy. Therefore, through people¡¦s feedback and tourists¡¦ participation of ecotourism, this paper discussed the economic benefits in transforming Zhongtun and Jiangmei village¡¦s wetland into an eco-garden. Thus, the research adopted the Payment-card method of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), categorized under the Non-market Valuation Techniques (NVT), analyzing the economic benefits of eco-tourism¡¦s virtual market at Zhongtun and Jiangmei village. That is, the amount of people¡¦s Willingness to Pay (WTP) was analyzed to discover the project¡¦s multiple values. Further more, by comparing and contrasting people¡¦s background information, people¡¦s data and differences among other facets were discovered. Finally, in responding to the urgent need in tourism development, this paper integrated tourists and residents¡¦ data to discover the amount of WTP. Such research mode provided a tourism benefits assessment of Zhongtun and Jiangmei village¡¦s eco-garden project, and its conclusion supplied some suggestions to government control and also future plans of the eco-garden. There are 236 respondents (including 162 residents and 74 tourists) willing to take the questionnaire survey assuming the correspondence among people¡¦s background information (resident or tourist), attitude and other variables and WTP. After analysis, the result demonstrates that sex and age have little effect on many variables. On the other hand, people¡¦s background (resident or tourist), education level, average income do have obvious influence. However, the both results are valid, showing the principle this research applied is reliable. The CVM results included: 1. People shows positive attitude toward the ten facets of Zhongtun and Jiangmei¡¦s eco-garden tour. 2. The average accommodation rates for visitors willing to pay for Zhongtun and Jiangmei¡¦s eco-tour is 4000 NT dollars. And each year, about 127000000NT/year dollars 3200NT/year dollars donation per person can be expected in total. 3. The average amount of willingness to pay for people to join in an eco-tour is: 400NT dollars for eco-tour; 400NT dollars for fishing village experience; 400NT dollars for farm life experience, 1200NT dollars in total. 4. The potential tourism benefits of Zhongtun and Jiangmei¡¦s eco-garden are about: 79000000NT/24000000NT year for tourists and 55000000NT/9940000NT year for residents,and 7370000NT/1840000NT year for compensation. In the end, this research hoped to tribute some advices to Zhongtun and Jiangmei¡¦s eco-garden¡¦s management, turning ecological resources into financial sources, for Penghu County to be an ecotourism paradise.

While considering disposing the priority of various kinds of communal facilities, the cost that must assess benefit and make the investment first, will not just have waste or the improper situation of resource distribution. Seeing that public goods importance that benefit assess, it is market that appraise law develop successively and extensive application, it is a law of appraisal more feasible and with more potentiality among them to assess the law in condition, so this research does deep discussion to this. Because the traditional demand theory has it to limit to the public goods short of marketing, unable to get consumer's appraisal on the public goods, this research attempts to bring the public goods into personal utility function, via the deriving of mathematics and physics, under the same demand principle, give monetary value to the public goods. Set up the compensation demand function of the public wealth, and can lead and pay wishing to pay prices of public goods from this. Utilize the compensating demand function, the valuation of pushing away regarded in order to wish to pay prices as benefit of public wealth of the income. To the increase or reduction of the quantity of the public goods, generally often use WTP or WTA. A lot of theories or positive research, mostly inclined to use WTP to draw benefit value in the past. Because target, tour of benefit numerous, visit offering, the estimate of benefit of recreation resources have model public characteristic of wealth, so this text attempts to use the public wealth promptly, and wide CVM (contingent valuation method) accepted, apply to Kaohsiung on resource of recreation, rest of resource assess, hope via personal inherent attitude and wishing pairs of behavior is it is it visit benefit, rest of resource to assess to come different of partiality, this is a purpose of this research. It is 23.94 yuan that visitors, willingness to pay ,the average amount of money of the maintenance expense, develop some continuously forever by safeguarding local ecological resources and tour industry in collecting the maintenance expense, up to 53% of the visitors and will to pay, the amount of money is 23.94 yuan to like to pay on average. If can collect the charges with 2007, calculate in accordance with 580,591 persons, it is 13,902,586.8 yuan.

<p>This study seeks to find the impact of theming on the willingness to pay of con- sumers for amusement parks. Guests of Finnish amusement park Särkänniemi were asked about their preference for themed attractions and about the price they were willing to pay per ride by means of a questionnaire. Variables concerning both the stated as well as the revealed preference for theming, immersive experience, and previous visits to the park were tested in relation to the willingness to pay for amusement parks. Not all these variables have shown to play an important role; however the variable concerning the revealed preference did have a very strong significance on the willingness to pay in the proposed model. In conclusion the study suggests that the willingness to pay for an attraction is positively influenced by theming because people, as it turns out, are willing to pay more for an attraction when it is themed.</p>