Farmland preservation has long been viewed by the public as a worthwhile endeavor. A public program can be set up to bring willing buyers and sellers together to facilitate the transfer of development rights. The farmer is paid for the opportunity cost of forfeiting the development rights to the land, while the general public is taxed the amount of their total benefit created by the existence of farmland. Through the data from an attribute-based choice survey (conducted in four geographic areas) the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of the public to preserve farmland that exhibited certain attributes, was estimated. The attributes included different use (grain, hay, vegetable, pasture, forest), location (near urban), quality (prime), size (varied acreage relative to geographic area sampled), and cost (varied costs from $3 to $50) components. Selection bias was tested for in order to confirm that the respondents are an unbiased representation of the geographic areas sampled. If selection bias was present, it would need to be corrected for in order to aggregate the survey results to the population of the geographic areas. Selection bias was tested for using a bivariate probit model with sample selection, a variation on the Heckman correction model. Selection bias was not significant, so the choice model was estimated using a probit model. The response was dependent on the use, location, quality, size, and cost components. Based on the parameter estimates, the geographic areas were compared using the scale parameter. A variation of the Swait and Louviere method was used to find the optimal scale parameter ratios between pair-wise geographic areas. Heterogeneity of the parameter estimates as well as heterogeneity of variances was tested. Prime farmland was significant and positive in all geographic areas, suggesting it should be included in the national ranking criteria for a farmland preservation program. WTP by household for each attribute was reported. Additionally, the WTP was aggregated to provide a hypothetical range of the monetary benefit farmland provides for the residents of each geographic area. / Master of Science

Utah’s water resources are endangered by low rainfall rates, high per capita water consumption and a strong projected increase of residents. The irrigation of ornamental plant landscaping is estimated to account for 60% of residential water use, and is, therefore, a target of education programs in the effort to promote water conservancy. The water-wise “Yellow Tag” program developed by the Utah Division of Water Resources seeks to provide retail nurseries with free tags for labeling plants which are considered low water use with the objective of promoting water conservation. The objective of this study is to determine consumer preferences for plants labeled with the Yellow Tag. As a means of measuring consumer preference we use willingness-to-pay (WTP). We give participants the choice between daylily, spiderwort and neither. Choice alternatives differ in flower color, purported irrigation need, production location and price. The data for this study was collected through an online survey instrument applied to 463 participants residing in the state of Utah. Our results show that consumers prefer daylilies labeled with the Yellow Tag, and dislike spiderwort labeled with a high irrigation need. Special preference for Yellow Tag labeled ornamentals was found for respondents who are female, living in single houses, are concerned about the price of water and are drought aware. We do not find a preference for flower color or production location. These promising results may encourage Utah governmental and education agencies to continue the Water-Wise program, expand educational programs to increase drought awareness and help retailers optimize their future product mixes.

When estimating economic value associated with changes in water quality, recreation demand models typically depend upon either (i) biophysical measures of water quality as collected by natural scientists or (ii) the perception of water quality by recreationists. Models based upon biophysical metrics (such as oxygen concentration, pollutant concentrations, Secchi depth measurements, etc.) operate on the assumption that people can perceive and respond to these metrics, or respond to factors that are, indeed, correlated with the biophysical measure. Economists have often estimated willingness-to-pay (WTP) measures associated with unit changes in biophysical measures without examining the degree to which the measures are truly correlated with perceptions. Recreation demand models that are based upon respondents’ perceptions of water quality necessarily assume that perceptions correlate well with the measures used by scientists to evaluate water quality. Again, WTP for unit changes in perceptions have been estimated without examining the relationship to the underlying biophysical measures. The relationship between biophysical metrics and perceptions is rarely addressed, yet it has profound implications for water quality management and policy. Consider a federal or state agency wishing to manage the quality of its waters in an economically efficient way. Through mandated water quality monitoring regulations, an agency may have many years of biophysical measurements, but these measures are in no way linked to people’s perceptions of water quality and, thus, to WTP. Using biophysical measures of water quality and recreation use data recently collected in Utah, this study links technical measures of water quality at a water body to survey respondents’ perceptions of water quality at the same site. This approach is akin to estimating an ecological production function wherein biophysical measures are “inputs” to water quality perceptions (the output). Truncated Negative Binomial models of water-based recreation are used to estimate welfare effects of changes in water quality as measured through (i) unit changes in biophysical measures, (ii) unit changes in perceptions, and (iii) unit changes in biophysical as they change perceptions through the ecological production function.

Aiming at exploring the issue of duality of the Swedish government system and the possible influence of a detached public administration, a study of bureaucrats’ characteristics, potential preferences and consequent willingness to pay (WTP) for certain policies was needed. This research attempts therefore at investigating how acceptance of CO2 emissions reduction programs among public agents is influenced by factors such as the cost of the program, concerns with air quality, impacts on biodiversity, improvements in the fuelling stations infrastructure, the use of electricity as fuel and individual characteristics such as gender. Subsequently what impact these predictors have on bureaucrats from different public agencies’ WTP for the same programs. For the estimates, binary probit regressions were performed. The results revealed significance of the attributes for the decision over accepting one of the scenarios, particularly the additional information of a budget constraint. However, it was possible to conclude that WTP did not vary significantly among agencies.

This study analyzed preferences for wetland-loss prevention in coastal Louisiana. Data were obtained through a contingent-valuation mail survey of a random sample of Louisiana households. Results, based on 511 responses, indicate that respondents have a strong preference for a short-run program (72.41% chose this program over a long-run program or no action). Respondents that had higher incomes, were white, had prior knowledge of ongoing restoration efforts, and had confidence in government were more likely to support some program relative to no action, as were those citing hurricane, environmental, and/or climate-change protection as their primary concern. Older respondents and those with negative perceptions of climate change were more likely to prefer the short-run over the long-run program. Median net present value of willingness to pay (assuming 18.37% discount rate) was estimated at $17,491 per household for the multinomial logit model and $3,307 under the Turnbull lower-bound method.

This research introduces a new value elicitation method for non-market valuation, referred to as the “quasi-double-bound (QDB)” method, applied to the case of barrierisland restoration in Mississippi. The objective of this thesis is to implement the QDB method in an actual stated-preference survey instrument and to test empirically whether the method elicits consistent responses and yields more efficient welfare estimates relative to the more-commonly used single-bound (SB) method. To test the QDB method, several models were estimated to derive a variety of welfare estimates for comparison to the estimates derived from the SB method. The QDB method introduced here results in a median willingness to pay (WTP) that was higher than the estimate of median WTP using the SB method in three of the five models estimated. The variances (i.e., confidence interval) of the QDB models were generally lower than those of the SB models.

High-profile outbreaks in the U.S. have been increasingly linked to the consumption of leafy greens (Xue et al. 2007), making traceability an important issue (Corkery and Popper 2018). Consumers' increasing attention to traceability (Hansstein 2014) has led to the implementation of blockchain-based traceability systems. This study measures U.S. consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for blockchain-based traceability information in packages of romaine lettuce and spinach. We conduct two online Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) and surveys to understand consumer preferences for USDA-certified organic leafy greens, access to blockchain-based traceability information via QR codes, and the FDA's voluntary labeling guidelines involving growing region information. Our findings suggest that some U.S. consumers are willing to pay a premium for food products with blockchain-based traceability or standard traceability information delivered via QR-codes. Findings also reflect some consumers' interest in organic products, and in knowing the detailed growing region information, particularly if leafy greens are grown in Arizona.

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<p>  </p> <p>There is an increasing global awareness of the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance. Measures are being taken by non-government organizations, nations and individual entities to address this intensely pressing issue which ultimately threatens human lives. The One Health initiative provides a framework which may advance public understanding of and willingness to address antimicrobial resistance. One Health seeks to identify alternative solutions to problems through an understanding of the human-animal-ecological interconnection. There are several alternatives to antibiotics that have been proposed in livestock (and specifically poultry) production systems. This work focused specifically on the prospect of bacteriophages as a tool for microbial control. A sample of 1,497 respondents targeted to be representative of the population of Pakistan completed a survey providing data about knowledge of antibiotics, the threats of antimicrobial resistance, and their food shopping behaviors. A hypothetical discrete choice experiment was used to elicit survey respondent’s choices amongst various chicken products which varied according to purchase location (supermarket versus wet market) and were labeled with regard to the use of antibiotics in production. Respondents were randomly assigned into one or two groups. One group saw in-depth information about antibiotics and bacteriophage technology alongside basic information about poultry prices, purchase location, and product labeling. The other group saw only basic information about purchase location, pricing, and product labeling, but were not provided the additional information about antibiotics or bacteriophage technology and its potential effectiveness for microbial control. In addition to the estimation of consumer willingness to pay for poultry production processes, respondent’s food shopping behavior, familiarity with antibiotic use, and familiarity with bacteriophages or phages was assessed. A random parameters logit model was used to estimate Pakistan poultry consumer’s willingness to pay for bacteriophage technology as an alternative to antibiotics in poultry production. </p>