Organisations managing recreational sites commonly need to understand the factors influencing visitation choices made by the public and the impact they have on the value of their sites. This need is particularly pertinent with an increasing societal reliance on cost benefit analysis for project appraisal. Whilst on-site visitor surveys can provide information on preferences and values, the potential to transfer findings to predict visitor numbers and values at unsurveyed sites provides an attractive policy option. Indeed, the demand for these benefit transfer methodologies is increasing as more Government emphasis is placed on evaluating the economic potential of rural outdoor recreation. This research concerns the development of benefit transfer models to estimate visitor numbers from outset zones to British Waterways and Forestry Commission sites. Employing a GIS, the research uses multilevel statistical modelling techniques to quantify the impacts of the proximity to competing recreation sites, resource accessibility and quality, and the characteristics of visiting populations. The models are constructed using visitor survey data and applied to unsurveyed sites, testing their use in benefit transfer. Methods are also developed that allow their output to be used to estimate the non-market value of the recreational opportunities afforded by the resources. The findings show some robust relationships determined visit patterns, with travel times from outset zones being a consistent predictor of visitor numbers. A range of other indicators were also significant including socio-demographic measures, site characteristics and substitute availability values. Nevertheless, when individual sites were compared, considerable variability was detected in the strength and direction of these relationships. The methodology developed explicitly addresses the frequently ignored spatial dimension of benefit transfer. Here the GIS provides the functionality to produce a range of measures of the underlying determinants of recreational visits. Although further refinements are needed, the future for spatial benefit transfer models appears promising.

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Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Univ., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

The purpose of this study was to track former remedial students at one of Mississippi’s community colleges in order to examine the investment effectiveness of remedial and developmental programs by conducting a cost-benefit analysis. The approach involved tracking, surveying, and evaluation. The method was selected on the basis of data needs and gaps that could enable the state’s system of community colleges to estimate the economic cost and benefits to the state, the community colleges, and the students. The study used a survey instrument, along with existing institutional data on revenues and expenditures, to ascertain whether funds generated for the support of remedial programs were cost effective and economically viable. A cost-benefit analysis was conducted by defining the purpose of the study, measuring the cost, measuring the benefits, and calculating the benefit-cost ratio. The results of the study indicated that the economic benefits of providing remedial education outweighed the economic cost.

AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF COASTAL \VETLANDS IN KOREA BY IIEE-DONG PYO The thesis undertakes a detailed economic analysis of the coastal wetlands of Korea and applies the double-bounded dichotomous choice model and spike model of the contingent valuation method to systematically evaluate their conservation value. Further analysis including an extension of the original spike model using only singlcbounded data (Kristrom, I ()(n) to modelling double-bounded data for more statistical efficiency to deal with /.ero observations was made. As a result, the estimated willingness-to-pay for conserving the coastal wetlands under the study is S3.9 per month per household, and the annual aggregated conservation value for the entire nation is about 175 million dollars in a conservative scenario. The study then applies a benefit-cost analysis (8C';\) to coastal wetlands around the Youngsan River, an area of dispute between development and preservation in Korea, with a synthesised estimation of the ecosystcm functional values for coastal wetlands and rice paddies developed by reclamation. The results show wetland development would be preferred to its preservation in an optimistic seenano and conventional BC A, yielding NPV of $49million at the discount rate of 8(Yo, IRR of 8.28%, and B/C ratio of 1.03. By contrast, a normal scenario rejects economic feasibility for the development project at the discount rate of 8°/c), yielding a NPV of -$271 million, IRR of 6.5% and B/C ratio of 0.84. With an extended Be A including conservation values for I-year, 5-year and 1 O-year payment, the estimates of IRR are 7.42%, 5.42%, and 4.06%, respectively under the optimistic scenario. Meanwhile, under the nOnllal Scenario the estimates of IRR arc 5.85%, 4.25%, and 3.09%, respectively. In addition, this study includes a discussion of a comprehensiYe review of conjoint analysis and the integrated environmental management of coastal wetlands developing sustainability indicators for coastal lisheries using bio-economic models in Appendix.

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The value of statistical life is an estimate of the monetary benefits of preventing an anonymous death. Society's willingness to pay to eliminate private health risks determines agencies' value-of-statistical-life estimates. Most estimates ignore society's willingness to pay to eliminate others' health risks. There are two possible reasons. First, altruism does not exist: Peter is not willing to pay to save Paul's life. The second possible reason is a bit more complicated. Certain economists argue that increasing benefit estimates to account for altruism involves double-counting. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate these possibilities. Accounting for altruism, it turns out, is not double-counting if altruism is paternalistic. Furthermore, I empirically demonstrate that people are willing to pay to reduce others' health risks. Thus, the two justifications for ignoring altruism are, seemingly, unfounded, which indicates that analysts should increase the value of statistical life to account for altruism.

Taiwan Coastal-Offshore Fisheries, for lack of effective fisheries conservation, which are in face of random competition and excessive exploitation of resources under vicious circle, have made resources exhausted in the sea area near Taiwan and have diminished catch of fish. CPUE (Catch per Unit of Effort) was decreased year after year because of excessive competition, so that it caused income of the fishing population to get in a crisis. The fact that we know, in order to solve effectively the operating difficult position in Coastal-Offshore Fisheries, is that the government adopt an phase-in on elimination and construction system in connection with the fishing boat and some measures of vessels reduction, for reducing amount of fishing boat and fishing effort, to promote the vitality and the competitive ability of production in Coastal-Offshore Fisheries. The basic theory of vessels reduction comes from the following backgrounds: 1. A viewpoint of economy in bio-ecology: when experts decide the whole policy according to this mode, the goal to determine fishing effort can be selected among divers fishing effort which was made by laissez-faire economy of completely free competition, Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), and Maximum Economic Yield (MEY) . 2. A viewpoint of welfare economics: to achieve the goal of welfare economics with the thoughts of whole people, the intersection of marginal cost and average income is the most proper that we can obtain from the maximum sum of producers surplus and consumers surplus as fishing effort. 3. A viewpoint of external diseconomies: when marginal value of people is equal to marginal cost of fishing population, this point will be the most proper for fishing effort. The purpose of study in this thesis is to use a method of analysis exploring the correctness of vessels reduction program that the fishery authorities in our government execute, and to look over its effect to find out whether it has achieved the goal we expected. We have discovered the result through cost-benefit analysis of actual examples, of which the vessels reduction program to purchase the old fishing boats for lack of a complete set of other measures which based on fishing effort and fishery management in the theory of vessels reduction , will cause the measures to fail to improve remarkably these two important goals¢wto decrease the fishing pressure, and to promote the fishing gains¢win an expectable time. This study propose that the vessels reduction program could consider cutting down fishing effort with other methods for pursuing the eternal development in Coastal-Offshore Fisheries, such as to rest fishing and to carry out the measures of a complete set in a ration system, and that the effect, except the proper fishing effort made by the consideration in basic theory of vessels reduction , will be better. Furthermore, an object of vessels reduction should not only be limited to the old fishing boats over 15 years of age, but also take the ones as object which remain working at sea and have reached over 2 years of age in case of uneasy or bad operation. As before, it will be able to attain the aim of decreasing competition in fishing circles.