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

As the Chinese luxury market has become one of the biggest in the world, this thesis seeks to investigate the relationship between the luxury perception of Chinese consumers and their willingness to buy under the price reduction. Drawing from Wiedmann’s concepts of luxury values, we propose a framework to measure the luxury value perception of Chinese consumers through the functional, individual, and social dimensions.   We conduct a quantitative research and collect 315 valid questionnaires from Chinese luxury consumers. In questionnaires, we ask them to rate the perception of luxury goods and their willingness to buy when the price is reduced by 20% and 40% respectively. We perform multiple linear regression with SPSS. The results show the value perception in the individual dimension has positive impact on the willingness to buy, and the more price is reduced, the more impact it will have, whereas, the value perception in the functional dimension is not significantly related to the willingness to buy under both price reductions. The value perception in the social dimension is positively related to the willingness to buy when the price is reduced by 20%, but there is no significant relationship when the price is further reduced by 40%.

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

Seminario para optar al Grado de Licenciado en Ciencias Políticas y Gubernamentales Mención: Gestión Pública / Esta investigación se enmarca entre los estudios cualitativos y busca comparar los modos de participación ciudadana en base a dos casos de comunas en Chile: La Pintana y Las Condes en el período 2012-2017. El resultado de esta investigación señala que las principales diferencias entre ambas comunas se enmarcan en 5 dimensiones, frecuencia de los usos de los modos de participación ciudadana, los enfoques sobre la participación ciudadana que presenta cada una de estas comunas, la voluntad de los funcionarios hacia la participación ciudadana, el entorno organizacional que rodea al Municipio (organizaciones de la sociedad civil) y la capacidad de incidencia de los vecinos de estas comunas. / This works is a qualitative effort which general purpose is to compare the ways of citizen governance, based in two cases of comunas in Chile: La Pintana and Las Condes during 2012-2017. The results of this efforts points out that the most important differences between both cases are basically categorized in 5 dimensions, the frequency, the approach to the topic from the local government, bureaucrats willingness to citizen governance, the civil society organizations and the impact that citizens can have in public policy in this comunas.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jason S. Bergtold / In recent years, great attention has been placed on conservation systems for agricultural production. Conservation practices offer economic and environmental benefits, yet conventional practices remain the prevailing system in some regions. As conservation efforts are launched by different local and federal agencies, understanding farmers’ motivations when adopting conservation practices is important to ensure the continuation of adoption through the development of programs that are tailored to meet farmers’ preferences and constraints. The purpose of the first essay was to identify the factors affecting farmers’ choice of tillage practice at the crop level. Farmer’s choice of No-till, Strip-till and Conventional tillage was modeled for dryland corn, wheat and soybean production in Kansas. The results show that tillage decisions are crop-specific and that factors such as risk aversion, baling and grazing of crop residue, crop acreage, and farmers’ approach to adopting new technologies are significant factors affecting farmers’ decisions. The second essay focused on the adoption of continuous no-till, conservation crop rotation, cover crops, and variable rate application of inputs and the effect that incentive payments, payment mechanism, and off-farm environmental benefits from conservation have on the decision to adopt. This essay also examined the risk associated with the variability of net returns and its effect on farmers’ willingness to adopt using a non-linear extended expected utility framework, allowing for the estimation of a utility parameter for net returns, farmer’s subjective judgment of probabilities, and farmers’ risk attitudes. Farmers were found to exhibit risk aversion, with an estimated risk premium of approximately 3% of net returns. Results also suggested a preference for federally-run programs and for programs with higher off-farm environmental benefits. The third essay examined the timing of adoption of continuous no-till, cover crops, and variable rate application of inputs. This study found that risk aversion delays the timing of adoption of cover crops and variable rate application of inputs. However, the timing of adoption of continuous no-till was not affected by risk aversion. Findings also indicated that farmers who consider themselves innovators adopt at a faster rate than their counterparts.