xiii, 123 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / To complement a varied and growing literature in health economics, this dissertation is conducted in three substantive parts. First, I investigate the effect of public policy on health use and health outcomes, exploiting variation in the generosity of Medicaid eligibility to low income pregnant women across states and over time to identify an effect on common, yet costly, pregnancy complications. I provide new evidence on this important question from a nationally representative sample of hospital discharges for 12 states between 1989 and 2001. Second, I explore heterogeneity in individual demand for health risk reductions. Utilizing individual stated-preference data from matching surveys conducted in both Canada and the United States, I employ the Value of a Statistical Illness Profile framework to investigate differences in average willingness-to-pay (WTP) for health risk reductions across the two different cultures. Although existing literature has allowed for systematic variation in age to explain differences in health care demand, the differences in WTP have not been explained through systematic variation across other socio-demographic characteristics, subjective risks of the diseases in question, or differences between the Canadian and U.S. health care systems. I extend the literature by controlling for an expanded set of observable individual heterogeneity and comment on the degree to which estimates can be applied across cultures to inform varying policy decisions. The third paper studies factors affecting adolescent health risk behavior. Previous study finds that community size and the degree to which social networks are interconnected affect three economically significant outcomes: the frequency of adolescent misbehavior in school, degree of perceived safety in school, and grade performance. Other research has suggested peer effects on smoking behavior and drinking behavior. I investigate the degree to which social connectedness impacts adolescent health, specifically looking at outcomes for drinking and smoking, and the degree to which these effects can be disentangled from more commonly studied "peer effects" in health behavior. / Committee in charge: Trudy Cameron, Co-Chairperson, Economics; Glen Waddell, Co-Chairperson, Economics; Anne van den Nouweland, Member, Economics; Jessica Greene, Member, Planning Public Policy & Mgmt; David Levin, Outside Member, Mathematics

Le paiement des frais hospitaliers par les patients est une raisons majeures de pauvreté en Chine, notamment en milieu rural en Chine. Afin d’améliorer l’efficacité et l’égalité de financement des soins de santé en milieu rural en Chine ; on va faire une étude de faisabilité concernant la mise en place de la micro-assurance sociale ainsi que la réassurance en milieu rural en Chine.Cette thèse est composée de quatre parties. La première partie est la recherche de la problématique et le justificatif de l’étude. La deuxième partie est consacrée à la présentation générale de la situation sanitaire en Chine, y compris l’assurance maladie en Chine, que ce soit en milieu rural ou en milieu urbain. Dans la troisième partie, une étude des conditions d’application de la micro-assurance médicale en milieu rural a été faite. Enfin, on va envisager un système de réassurance sociale pour la micro-assurance qui pourrait être créée.Selon les cotisations calculées et la disposition à payer moyenne, on peut dire que la mise en place de la micro-assurance en milieu rural serait faisable. / The payment of hospital fees by patients is a major reason for poverty in China, especially in rural China. To improve the effectiveness and equity of healthcare financing in rural China, we’ll make a feasibility study for the establishment of micro-insurance and reinsurance in rural China. This thesis is composed of four parts. The first part researches the problematic and the justification of this study. The second part is to present the general health situation in China, including health insurance in China, whether rural or urban. In the third part, a study on the application conditions of micro-health insurance in rural areas has been made. Finally, we will consider a system of social reinsurance for micro-insurance that could be created. According to the contribution calculated and the average willingness to pay, we can say that the establishment of micro-insurance in rural areas would be feasible.

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.

<p>The thesis consists of a summary and four papers, concerned with food consumption, behavior associated with overconsumption of food and analysis of the economic policy reforms designed to improve health.</p><p>Paper [I] estimates a hedonic price model on breakfast cereal, crisp bread and potato product data. The purpose is to examine the marginal implicit prices for food characteristics associated with health. A trade-off exists between health and taste. For instance, sugar, salt and fat are tasty but can be unhealthy if overconsumed; whereas fiber is unhealthy if underconsumed. If the marginal implicit price for sugar is negative, consumers value health over its taste. Our results are the marginal implicit price for sugar is negative for breakfast cereals and crisp bread—consumers value health over the taste of sugar. For salt, we find the opposite—a positive marginal implicit price, suggesting people value its taste over health. For fat, we find a negative marginal implicit price of fat in breakfast cereals and potato products containing salt, whereas we find a positive marginal implicit price of fat in hard bread and potato products that contain no salt. For the one healthy characteristic, fiber, we find a negative marginal implicit price in breakfast cereals and a positive implicit price in hard bread.</p><p>Paper [II] uses a general equilibrium model to derive the optimal policy if people overconsume unhealthy food due to self-control problems. Individuals lacking self-control have a preference for immediate gratification, at the expense of future health. We show the optimal policy to help individuals with self-control problems to behave rationally is a combination of subsidies for the health capital stock and the physical capital stock.</p><p>Paper [III] estimates a demand system for grain consumption based on household panel data and detailed product characteristics, and simulate the effect on grain consumption of economic policy reforms designed to encourage a healthier grain diet. Our results imply it is more cost-efficient to subsidize the fiber content than to subsidize products rich in fiber given the goal to increase the fiber intake of the average Swedish household. Our results also imply subsidies alone give rise to an increase in fiber, and to other unhealthy nutrients. Also, subsidies alone have negative effects on the budget. We therefore simulate the effect of policy reforms in which the subsidies are funded either by taxes on the content of unhealthy nutrients or by taxes on products that are overconsumed. Our results suggest that price instruments need to be substantial to change consumption. For instance, removing the VAT on products rich in fiber has little effect on consumption.</p><p>Paper [IV] explores habit persistence in breakfast cereal purchases. To perform the analysis, we use a mixed multinomial logit model, on household panel data on breakfast cereal purchases. If habit persistence in consumption is strong, short and long-run responses to policy reforms will differ. Our results are breakfast cereal purchases are strongly associated with habit persistence. Our results also imply preferences for breakfast cereals are heterogeneous over households and the strength of habit persistence is similar over educational and income groups.</p>

The thesis consists of a summary and four papers, concerned with food consumption, behavior associated with overconsumption of food and analysis of the economic policy reforms designed to improve health. Paper [I] estimates a hedonic price model on breakfast cereal, crisp bread and potato product data. The purpose is to examine the marginal implicit prices for food characteristics associated with health. A trade-off exists between health and taste. For instance, sugar, salt and fat are tasty but can be unhealthy if overconsumed; whereas fiber is unhealthy if underconsumed. If the marginal implicit price for sugar is negative, consumers value health over its taste. Our results are the marginal implicit price for sugar is negative for breakfast cereals and crisp bread—consumers value health over the taste of sugar. For salt, we find the opposite—a positive marginal implicit price, suggesting people value its taste over health. For fat, we find a negative marginal implicit price of fat in breakfast cereals and potato products containing salt, whereas we find a positive marginal implicit price of fat in hard bread and potato products that contain no salt. For the one healthy characteristic, fiber, we find a negative marginal implicit price in breakfast cereals and a positive implicit price in hard bread. Paper [II] uses a general equilibrium model to derive the optimal policy if people overconsume unhealthy food due to self-control problems. Individuals lacking self-control have a preference for immediate gratification, at the expense of future health. We show the optimal policy to help individuals with self-control problems to behave rationally is a combination of subsidies for the health capital stock and the physical capital stock. Paper [III] estimates a demand system for grain consumption based on household panel data and detailed product characteristics, and simulate the effect on grain consumption of economic policy reforms designed to encourage a healthier grain diet. Our results imply it is more cost-efficient to subsidize the fiber content than to subsidize products rich in fiber given the goal to increase the fiber intake of the average Swedish household. Our results also imply subsidies alone give rise to an increase in fiber, and to other unhealthy nutrients. Also, subsidies alone have negative effects on the budget. We therefore simulate the effect of policy reforms in which the subsidies are funded either by taxes on the content of unhealthy nutrients or by taxes on products that are overconsumed. Our results suggest that price instruments need to be substantial to change consumption. For instance, removing the VAT on products rich in fiber has little effect on consumption. Paper [IV] explores habit persistence in breakfast cereal purchases. To perform the analysis, we use a mixed multinomial logit model, on household panel data on breakfast cereal purchases. If habit persistence in consumption is strong, short and long-run responses to policy reforms will differ. Our results are breakfast cereal purchases are strongly associated with habit persistence. Our results also imply preferences for breakfast cereals are heterogeneous over households and the strength of habit persistence is similar over educational and income groups.

Within these years, in order to effectively arrange the limited resource that the government has owned and been able to allocate, a detailed financial plan and a well-structured evaluation system for any project is essential. Normally the most research topics issued are related to the economic effect of natural resources. In Taiwan, the article about analyzing the economic effect about the tour schemes proposed for the development of National Scenic Area is few and only at the beginning stage and the cause mainly is because of the common property of such schemes, i.e. the involvement of different departments needed. At this situation, effected by the different control froces from a varity of government departments and varied industry structures and developing progress in different areas, it is difficult to clarify and analyze the achievement for each department. Owing to this character, the economic effect related to such development schemes is difficult to conclude and it is even harder to evaluate whether or not the economic benefit is definitely resulted from the improving projects. The research topic is going to comprehend the economic effect caused by the medium-range scheme launched by National Scenic Areas, then is able to propose some feasible items to evaluate the economic effect and collect the figures the Cost-Efficiency Evaluation relaed to the effect. As to the intangible benefit, it is assessed by the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The study takes the case of Penghu National Scenic Area to predict the economic effect between 2008 to 2011. From the research, it shows that the figure of Willing To Pay (WPA) among the tourists already visited the Penghu National Scenic Area is NT$6,943 and within 2008 and 2011, after the development implemented, the amount is going to raise to NT$9,638. Based on this raise, the economic revenue would be NT$415,691,000 caculated from the Prediction equation in 2008, NT$428,984,000 in 2009, NT$442,397,000 in 2010 and NT$ 455,933,000 in 2011. Within 10 year of available analytic fixed number of years, the 4-year Net Present Value¡]NPV¡^ ¡]valuta of 2008 year ¡^ will be NT$1,766,586,000 based on the discount rate at 2% and the 4 year Benefit-Cost Ratio, B/C ratio is 3.05>1. From this result, the 2008-2011 development plan itself has demostrated its economic feasibility.

ABSTRACT APPLICATION OF NON-MARKET ECONOMIC VALUATION METHOD TO VALUE THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN MONETARY TERMS: A CASE STUDY IN YOZGAT PROVINCE Horasanli, Erol M.Sc., Department of Environmental Engineering Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Emre ALP December 2010, 100 pages Determining environmental economic benefits of geothermal energy is difficult since there is no market for all environmental goods and services related to it. In order to determine and measure the market price of non-market goods and services, non-market valuation methods are used. Since intangible benefits do not have monetary values, non-market valuation techniques are applied to estimate them. Non-market valuation methods are important tools for policy makers in the cost and benefit analysis and environmental impact assessment process to aid their final decision. In this study, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used to determine the environmental benefits of using geothermal energy for house heating instead of fossil fuels and natural gas in Yozgat (center). The willingness to pay for geothermal energy of the Yozgat residents was determined and underlying motivations to use geothermal energy were assessed. The results showed that the mean willingness to pay (WTP) for the usage of geothermal energy in house heating to increase air quality and mitigate the effects v of climate change is $50/person/month. The results also showed that respondents know the importance of the climate changes and they believe that geothermal energy usage will affect the mitigation of climate changes positively. The geothermal energy investment in the region will amortize itself in 3 years. Therefore, in the feasibility studies, geothermal energy investment seems feasible. During the regression analyses, climate change and air pollution parameters were the most significant parameters for the calculation of mean WTP. Since, decrease in air pollution using geothermal energy, will also mitigate the effect of climate changes, during the geothermal investment in the region, training activities and campaigns should be carried to cover the issues of climate change and global warming to emphasis that geothermal energy will serve for multi-dimensional environmental problems.

The primary argument in favor of mass customization is the delivery of superior customer value. Using willingness-to-pay (WTP) measurements, Franke & Piller (2004) have recently shown that customers designing their own watches with design toolkits are willing to pay premiums of more than 100% (DWTP). In the course of three studies, we found that this type of value increment is not a singular occurrence but might rather be a general phenomenon, as we again found average DWTPs of more than 100% among customers designing their own cell phone covers, T-shirts, and scarves. Building on this, we discuss the sources of benefits that are likely to explain this tremendous value increment. We argue that compared to conventional standard products, a mass-customized product might render the following utilitarian and hedonic benefits: (1) First, the output might be beneficial as self-designed products offer a much closer fit between individual needs and product characteristics. In addition to this mere functional benefit, extra value might also stem from (2) the perceived uniqueness of the self-designed product. As the customer takes on the role of an active codesigner, there may also be two general 'do-it-yourself effects': (3) First, the process of designing per se is likely to allow the customer to meet hedonic or experiential needs (process benefit). (4) Customers may also be likely to value the output of self-design more highly if they take pride in having created something on their own (instead of traditionally buying something created by somebody else). This is referred to as the 'pride of authorship' effect. (author's abstract)

As part of the EPA’s initiative to reduce the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, a feasibility study for a potential water quality trading (WQT) program in the Kentucky River Watershed (KRW) was conducted. While theoretically, emission trading programs are among the most efficient means of reducing pollution, empirical evidence suggests low-trade volume as a primary concern for the long-term success of such programs. Some of the important reasons for the low volume of trade are due to lack of suitable market trading mechanism for point sources and lack of information on willingness to pay (WTP) for abatement credits. Our study aims to tackle these issues by gathering a profile of municipal sewage treatment plants as point source polluters in the KRW, while simultaneously analyzing their preferences for WQT market mechanisms and WTP using a survey based approach. The survey was conducted in 2012. Municipal sewage treatment plants’ ranked preferences are analyzed using an exploded logit model and WTP is analyzed using Ordinary Least Squares and Tobit models.

Country of origin (COO) effect is a well-researched topic in the international marketing literature. It is well recognized that consumers are biased against imports, due to consumer ethnocentrism or patriotism tendency. However, the research on COO effects also suggests that consumers form certain image of origin countries (COO image) and favorable image, be it associated with the countries, their people, or general product quality, improves the evaluation and acceptance of foreign imports. The publications related to COO effects which focus on consumer durables are abundant. However, the contrasting COO effects on food products are much less investigated. This study surveys British consumers’ preference for domestic versus imported beef. Like previous studies, a strong preference for domestic beef was found. Furthermore, individual characteristics which potentially influence such preference were examined. Using scores on consumer patriotism and COO image perception as interacting individual characteristics in the choice models, it was found that stronger preference against imports was linked to higher level of the respondents perceived patriotic sentiment toward their home country, while better COO image improved the likelihood of the foreign country’s beef being selected. Marketing and policy implications are discussed.