altruistic egoistic and biospheric values in willingness to pay wtp for wildlife abstract we attempt to measure general attitudes and ethical beliefs towards preservation as well as the importance of each of the three considered value orientations biospheric egoistic and altruistic in wtp estimates in the present study we apply the gac scale to a contingent valuation exercise for the recovery of the common murre uria aalge in galicia spain up to now only a few studies in the field of environmental and ecological economics have analyzed value orientations under the environmental concern ec framework obtaining mixed results in the present work we conclude that ethical aspects affect the individuals decision making process and that value orientations play an important role in the pro environmental attitude formation these value orientations affect willingness to pay wtp estimates for environmental goods

a joint investigation of public support and public values case of instream flows in new mexico abstract instream flow can be defined as the flow of water in its natural channels without diversion alone among the western us states new mexico nm fails to provide any mechanism for the protection of instream flows and has a long history of political resistance to any change in the status quo using the combined results from two statewide telephone surveys this study jointly investigates stated voting preferences for a proposed institutional change and stated valuation preferences for minimum instream flow protection the contingent valuation cv question uses a dichotomous choice dc elicitation format and a voluntary contribution trust fund payment vehicle results show a highly significant positive correlation between expressed voting preferences and expressed valuation preferences additionally those individuals who respond yes to the voting question have an expected willingness to pay wtp of 80 with a 95 confidence interval ci that is always positive 62 97 while those who respond no to the voting question have an expected wtp that is actually slightly negative 6 with a 95 ci containing zero 14 2 taken together these results provide evidence of construct validity estimation results are also shown to be temporally reliable across repeated samples thus there is strong evidence of public support for instream flow protection and its associated nonmarket benefits such evidence helps to provide instream flow concerns with standing in future nm water policy debates prominent examples include explicitly defining beneficial use and public welfare to allow consideration of instream flow protection

falling behind the joneses relative consumption and the growth savings paradox abstract concern for individual consumption relative to per capita consumption can induce a fear of falling behind which increases precautionary savings this fear intensifies as societal income growth increases allowing for a positive effect of growth on savings rates

tax evasion on a social network abstract we relate tax evasion behavior to a substantial literature on social comparison in judgements taxpayers engage in tax evasion as a means to boost their expected consumption relative to others in their social network the unique nash equilibrium of the model relates optimal evasion to a bonacich measure of network centrality more central taxpayers evade more given that tax authorities are now investing heavily in big data tools that aim to construct social networks we investigate the value of acquiring network information we do this using networks that allow for celebrity taxpayers whose consumption is seen widely and who are systematically of higher wealth we show that there are pronounced returns to the initial acquisition of network information especially in the presence of celebrity taxpayers

sustainability as opportunity this paper explores the relationship between sustainability concepts and contractarian principles of distributional fairness a commitment to equality of opportunity between contemporaries entails that life opportunities should be nondiminishing from generation to generation defining sustainability as nondeclining utility is analytically suggestive but practically problematic given the uncertainties that surround future preferences and technologies life opportunities may be sustained however by providing future generations with specific endowments of reproduced capital technological capacity natural resources and environmental quality in this setting capital resource substitutions are defensible only if there is compelling evidence that they would benefit both present and future generations

searching for the correct benefit estimate empirical evidence for an alternative perspective this paper contrasts the results of the contingent valuation hedonic price and property damages avoided valuation techniques each technique was used to estimate the value of flood risk reduction from the construction of a flood control project voting behavior in a referendum called specifically for the provision of the project was used to further interpret the results from the three valuation studies substantial differences were found between the estimates in explaining these differences an alternative perspective on the current debate over the validity and accuracy of nonmarket value estimates is offered

the evolution of hyperbolic discounting implications for truly social valuation of the future abstract we explore the standard expected utility model and alternatives to it we then examine the behavioral and neurological evidence for hyperbolic discounting we discuss evidence related to the neurological and behavioral evolution of discounting in non human animals and in humans we explore new findings about the importance of sociality in human behavior and the implications for truly social time preference finally we discuss the implications of the neurological evidence on discounting for social environmental valuation in particular the implications for very long run decisions such as those involved in climate change mitigation and biodiversity preservation

price principle and the environment should preferences count as a normative discipline welfare and therefore resource economics postulates that preferences should count in the allocation of resources this postulate cannot be justified in relation to choice or to well being the nor mative qualities that attend choices e g ac countability responsibility commitment and consent explain why choices should count but not preferences which are not actions but theo retical entities constructed ad hoc from stipu lated descriptions of behavior they are then said to explain the satisfaction of preferences moreover has no demonstrable relation with any conception of welfare or well being not sim ply defined in terms of it jel a13

a complex systems approach to the value of ecological resources a theory of value sits at the core of every school of economic thought and directs the allocation of resources to competing uses ecological resources complicate the modem neoclassical approach to determining value due to their complex nature considerable non market values and the difficulty in assigning property rights application of the market model through economic valuation only provides analytical solutions based on virtual markets and neither the demand nor supply side techniques of valuation can adequately consider the complex set of biophysical and ecological relations that lead to the provision of ecosystem goods and services this paper sets out a conceptual framework for a complex systems approach to the value of ecological resources this approach is based on there being both an intrinsic quality of ecological resources and a subjective evaluation by the consumer both elements are necessary for economic value this conceptual framework points the way towards a theory of value that incorporates both elements so has implications for principles by which ecological resources can be allocated c 2005 elsevier b v all rights reserved

capital market integration over the past decade the case of the us dollar abstract this study investigates changing capital market integration over the decade 1973 83 as measured by the relationship between eurodollar and domestic us dollar yields the findings reveal that capital market integration has increased appreciably since the end of 1981

no taxation without information deterrence and self enforcement in the value added tax abstract claims that the vat facilitates tax enforcement by generating paper trails on transactions between firms contributed to widespread vat adoption worldwide but there is surprisingly little evidence this paper analyzes the role of third party information for vat enforcement through two randomized experiments among over 400 000 chilean firms announcing additional monitoring has less impact on transactions that are subject to a paper trail indicating the paper trail s preventive deterrence effect this leads to strong enforcement spillovers up the vat chain these findings confirm that when taking evasion into account significant differences emerge between otherwise equivalent forms of taxation jel d83 h25 h26 k34 o17

the international transmission of eurodollar and us interest rates a cointegration analysis abstract the relationship between us and eurodollar certificate of deposit cd rates for the period 1981 1988 is examined using an error correction model results indicate that there is a structural change in the cd rates in the earlier sub period 1981 1983 there exists unidirectional causality leading from the domestic to the external markets in the more recent sub period 1984 1988 however significant reverse causality is observed these results are likely due to expansion in the size of the eurodollar market and an increase in the volume of eurodollar futures trading

individual morality and reputation costs as deterrents to tax evasion abstract empirical evidence suggests some taxpayers never evade evasion increases with the tax rate and evasion decisions are interdependent these findings are not easily explained by the existing theory which models evasion as an independently made amoral gamble this paper uses nonpecuniary costs of evasion to reconcile theory with evidence once individuals are assumed to differ by an honesty characteristic taxpayers dichotomise into groups the more honest of which responds to a tax change as the evidence suggests a further extension is to introduce an endogenous reputation cost this suggests a positive relationship between the number of evaders and the tax rate

capital market integration in the pacific basin region an impulse response analysis abstract we examine the extent of capital market integration in a group of pacific basin countries following the deregulation of their markets and explore whether the financial influence of japan in the region has overtaken that of the us looking at long run comovements of real interest rates through the use of cointegration and using impulse response analysis to examine the speed of adjustment of real interest rates to long run equilibrium following a shock in one of the markets which is another indicator of the degree of capital market integration we find that these countries are closely linked with world financial markets and more so with japan than with us

retrospectives consumer sovereignty the term consumer sovereignty is usually traced to william harold hutt and his 1936 book economists and the public a study of competition and opinion hutt paid only passing attention to the maximization of consumer welfare or the achievement of market efficiency he was stalking different game for him the basic issues revolved around the exercise of power in a free society and those issues concerned sovereignty why should consumers be given such great power in determining the allocation of resources and the course of production hutt s major argument for consumer sovereignty centered on its role in promoting political and social stability it is unlikely that hutt s defense of consumer sovereignty will be embraced by the economics profession in the near future it received only passing attention when first propounded and has largely disappeared from active discussion yet i would argue that his approach has a most interesting message

are we willing to pay enough to back the bid valuing the intangible impacts of london s bid to host the 2012 summer olympic games using a contingent valuation survey this paper provides the first empirical test of the proposition that intangible impacts might justify hosting major sporting events on cost benefit grounds respondents drawn from london manchester and glasgow were asked for their willingness to pay wtp to host the 2012 olympic games in london on the basis of the intangible impacts that this event might provide annual mean wtp is 22 12 and 11 per year for 10 years in these 3 uk cities respectively an illustrative total uk wtp for intangible impacts is in the region of 2 billion statistical analysis of wtp determinants reveals a range of plausible explanatory factors such as respondents degree of support for the bid

aggregation and deliberation in valuing environmental public goods starting from a distinction between kantian principle based and utilitarian preference based approaches in political theory this essay argues that we may understand normative judgments individuals make about policy to express principled views of the public interest or purpose not private preferences about their own consumption opportunities these judgments in other words state opinions about what we ought to do as a society rather than report preferences about what i want as a utility maximizer this essay then argues that contingent valuation can take into account these kinds of judgments which dominate public discourse about the environment only if it moves toward a deliberative discursive jury like research method emphasizing informed discussion leading toward a consensus based on an argument about the public interest

contingent valuation controversies and evidence contingent valuation cv has become one of the most widely used non market valuation techniques cv s prominence is due to its flexibility and ability to estimate total value including passive use value its use and the inclusion of passive use value in benefit cost analyses and environ mental litigation are the subject of a contentious debate this paper discusses key areas of the debate over cv and the validity of passive use value we conclude that many of the alleged problems with cv can be resolved by careful study design and implementation we further conclude that claims that empirical cv findings are theoretically inconsistent are not generally supported by the literature the debate over cv however has clarified several key issues related to nonmarket valuation and can provide useful guidance both to cv practitioners and the users of cv results

a note on euroyen and domestic yen interest rates abstract this study examines interest rate transmission between the london euroyen market and the japanese domestic cd market the results which span 1984 through the beginning of 1993 indicate that these two interest rate series are cointegrated in the earlier part of the sample period causality is strongest from the euroyen market to domestic yen interest rates however strong feedback effects are observed in both directions in more recent years the use of both vector autoregressive modeling and cointegration analysis for forecasting is supported over random walk models

preference uncertainty in non market valuation a fuzzy approach in this article we consider uncertain preferences for non market goods but we move away from a probabilistic representation of uncertainty and propose the use of fuzzy contingent valuation we assume that a decision maker never fully knows her own utility function and we treat utility as a fuzzy number the methodology is illustrated using data on forest valuation in sweden fuzzy contingent valuation provides estimates of resource value in the form of a fuzzy number and includes estimates obtained using a standard probabilistic approach

difference in preferences or multiple preference orderings comparing choices of environmental bureaucrats recreational anglers and the public abstract do environmental protection agency epa bureaucrats represent the general public or are they more in line with an interest group we study preferences for environmental policy using a choice experiment ce on three populations the general public swedish epa bureaucrats and recreational anglers we also test for existence of multiple preference orderings half of the respondents were asked to choose the alternatives that best corresponded with their opinion and the other half was asked to take the role of a policy maker and make recommendations for environmental policy the sepa bureaucrats have the highest marginal willingness to pay mwtp to improve environmental quality differences in mwtp are robust and not due to differences in socio economic characteristics across the populations we only found weak evidence of multiple preference orderings

incommensurability and monetary valuation at the very heart of environmental cost benefit analysis cba is the claim that benefits and costs can be expressed in terms of money and hence made comparable in particular cba puts all benefits and costs on a cardinal monetary scale it assumes monetary commensurability a significant literature in ethics and political philosophy has arisen which doubts this assumption but has so far had little impact on the theory or practice of cba in light of this the paper assesses the defense of monetary commensurability offered by cost benefit analysts and the wider economics literature

causal linkages between us and eurodollar interest rates further evidence this study examines causal linkages between us and eurodollar interest rates during 1983 2002 recursive cointegration analysis shows that a stable cointegration relationship between the two interest rates emerges only since the early 1990s when the fed used federal funds rate targeting and eliminated the reserve requirement on eurocurrency deposits the study further reveals that bidirectional causality exists between the two rates over the period of 1993 to 2002 while unidirectional causality from eurodollar rate to the us rate is found to exist over the period of 1983 to 1991 these findings consistently support increased interest rate linkages especially since the early 1990s

who compares to whom the anatomy of income comparisons in europe this article provides unprecedented direct evidence from large scale survey data on both the intensity how much and direction to whom of income comparisons income comparisons are considered to be at least somewhat important by three quarters of europeans they are associated with both lower levels of subjective well being and a greater demand for income redistribution the rich compare less and are happier than average when they do which latter is consistent with relative income theory with respect to the direction of comparisons colleagues are the most frequently cited reference group those who compare to colleagues are happier than those who compare to other benchmarks

on the private provision of public goods on networks abstract this paper analyzes the private provision of public goods where consumers interact within a fixed network structure and may benefit only from their direct neighbors provisions we present a proof of the existence and uniqueness of a nash equilibrium for general networks and best reply functions in addition we investigate the neutrality result of warr 38 and bergstrom blume and varian 6 whereby consumers are able to undo the impact of income redistribution as well as public provision financed by lump sum taxes to this effect we show that the neutrality result has a limited scope of application beyond a special network architecture in the neighborhood of the set of contributors

the equity efficiency trade off in environmental policy evidence from stated preferences the design of environmental policy raises several equity issues in particular the distribution of benefits and costs at the same time it has often been argued that there is a trade off in environmental policy between equity and efficiency which brings these issues firmly to the attention of environmental economics in this paper we use a simple choice experiment to elicit individual preferences over equity efficiency trade offs in the context of two environmental problems local air pollution and global climate change we find that equity matters to people as much as efficiency does in the design and delivery of environmental policy

pathways for environmental evaluation a walk in the hanging gardens of babylon the paper gives a methodological overview of the valse project which was a european programme of research into valuation procedures for aiding the formulation and evaluation of sustainability policy a notion of valuation from the point of view of complexity is built up through emphasising the permanent co existence of multiple perspectives and more particularly the permanent possibility of shifts in perspective scientific enquiries and analyses are tested validated or invalidated partly by reference to internal norms of coherence and rigour and partly by reference to external considerations relating to the particular social and ecological context of the enquiry through reference to the four valse case studies it is shown how the application of a chosen method of analysis structures the enquiry while the researcher also learns about the reality through listening to what is said about the situation and about the research method itself from other points of view this demonstrates an approach to the design and implementation of environmental valuation studies that fully reconciles scientific and political dimensions of a social science process 2000 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

migration incentives migration types the role of relative deprivation the authors explore the role of relative deprivation versus absolute income as an incentive for migration in developing countries in section i of this paper we outline the relative deprivation model of migration and present an illustration of the divergent policy implications of a relative deprivation model versus an absolute income model an attempt is made to identify distinct empirical implications of relative and absolute income motives for migrating in section ii a migration decision model is estimated and is used to explore absolute and relative income motives for internal and international migration in a sample of rural mexican households as well as to test the extent to which discontinuity in labour markets shapes the choice of migrant destination in section iii we present our conclusions excerpt