Integrating public demands into model-based design for multifunctional agriculture: An application to intensive Dutch dairy landscapes

The contribution of agriculture to the welfare of society is determined by its economic, social and environmental performance. Although theoretical discussions can be found in the literature, few reports exist that integrate the social demand for multifunctional agriculture in the evaluation of the sustainability and the global welfare of society. This paper presents a methodology that combines economic valuation, integrated modelling, stakeholder analysis, and multi-criteria evaluation. It consists of three steps to determine: (1) social demands for multifunctional agriculture; (2) feasible technical alternatives available from the supply part of the market; (3) the net utility of alternatives for society measured as the change in social net benefit, i.e. the sum of changes compared to the current situation expressed in utility of market and non-market net benefits. Market net benefits are represented by their monetary value. Quality Function Deployment combined with Analytic Network Process (QFD/ANP) were used to estimate the non-market net benefits. The methodology is applied to the case study of a dairy-farming based agricultural landscape in the Northern Friesian Woodlands, The Netherlands. Social net benefit depended on land use, i.e. pasture management regimes on each of the agricultural fields and on presence or absence of hedgerows around the fields. Changes in market net utility were expressed in terms of changes for farmers, consumers and government. Changes in non-market net utility were expressed in terms of changes in landscape quality, nature value and environmental health for Dutch society as a whole, as estimated from European public surveys (Eurobarometer). The complete solution space defined by the market and non-market net benefits of landscapes with alternative patterns of land use was estimated to offer insight in the trade-off between market and non-market performance and enable selection of ‘icon’ landscapes to target or avoid. Improvement of the current landscape towards the social optimum would involve changes in pasture management resulting in higher gross margin for farmers, slightly relaxing current environmental restrictions, which could be reached at lower levels of subsidies in agri-environmental programs. In addition to such overall optimum the results demonstrate the trade-off between market and non-market benefits and the characteristics of current, utopian and dystopian landscapes. The approach provides an alternative to current economic valuation methods which focus on assessment of economic value as an input to analysis. Here, economic value emerges as the trade-off between market and non-market functions which is an output of the analysis.     

Ecosystem services and agriculture: Cultivating agricultural ecosystems for diverse benefits

Crop and rangelands are over 25% of the Earth's land area, and they are expanding. Agricultural ecosystems rely on a suite of supporting ecosystem services to provide food, fiber and fuel as well as a range of accompanying but non-marketed ecosystem services (ES). Ecosystem services from agriculture include regulation of water and climate systems, aesthetic and cultural services, as well as enhanced supporting services (such as soil fertility). Many of these ES are appreciated by people, but they lack markets, so they lack the incentives for provision that come with prices. For public policy decisions to take them into account, non-market valuation techniques are needed, such as travel cost, contingent valuation, hedonic valuation, and cost-based or factor-income approaches. This article offers an overview of ES from agriculture and non-market valuation methods as it introduces the articles in this special section on “Ecosystem Services and Agriculture.” Understanding how ecological functions generate ES is fundamental to management, but so too is understanding how humans perceive and value those services. Research is required both to design cost-effective incentives to provide ES and to measure which kinds of ES could provide the greatest overall welfare benefits to society. Agricultural ecosystems offer newly recognized potential to deliver more diverse ecosystem services and mitigate the level of past ecosystem disservices. This special section of Ecological Economics conveys both how these are becoming possible and the challenges to science and public policy design of turning that potential into reality.     

Contribution of Contingent Valuation and Other Stated Preference Methods to Evaluation of Environmental Policy

Some form of stated preference method is essential for comprehensive evaluation of environmental policy options. The two most important stated preference methods are contingent valuation (CV) and choice modelling. I identify and discuss the major challenges facing CV and choice modelling researchers. Choice modelling applications to environmental valuation are comparatively recent, so the emphasis in this paper is on the more extensive body of CV research. The development of CV has been characterised by a (generally) constructive debate both within the economics profession, and between economists, philosophers, psychologists and other social scientists. As a result, much has been learnt about the nature of non-market economic values and how they might be measured. Important issues are the extent to which existing stated preference methods accurately represent individuals' values, and provide valid and reliable measures of changes in economic welfare. I review each of these issues in the light of recent theoretical and empirical work, identify the major outstanding problems, and indicate areas where progress is being made. I argue that the problems are solvable, and that eventually a theoretically sound and empirically effective method will be developed.     

Using Choice Experiments to Value the Environment

This paper we outline the “choice experiment” approach to environmental valuation. This approach has its roots in Lancaster's characteristics theory of value, in random utility theory and in experimental design. We show how marginal values for the attributes of environmental assets, such as forests and rivers, can be estimated from pair-wise choices, as well as the value of the environmental asset as a whole. These choice pairs are designed so as to allow efficient statistical estimation of the underlying utility function, and to minimise required sample size. Choice experiments have important advantages over other environmental valuation methods, such as contingent valuation and travel cost-type models, although many design issues remain unresolved. Applications to environmental issues have so far been relatively limited. We illustrate the use of choice experiments with reference to a recent UK study on public preferences for alternative forest landscapes. This study allows us to perform a convergent validity test on the choice experiment estimates of willingness to pay.     

The Effects of Changing Cost Vectors on Choices and Scale Heterogeneity

Choice Experiments (CE) are widely used to estimate the values of changes in non-market goods and services. A cost attribute is typically included in a CE questionnaire to enable the estimation of monetary values for changes in the non-market attributes presented. Notwithstanding the central importance of the cost attribute, relatively little research has been undertaken on the impacts of varying cost attribute levels on value estimates, or on individual heterogeneity. In this paper, I present results from mixed logit and generalised mixed logit models that account for unobserved idiosyncratic preference and scale heterogeneity. Respondents are found to anchor their choices on the relative cost levels presented in the survey with results suggesting that people are more sensitive to relative rather than absolute cost vectors. However, the higher cost levels do not lead to significantly higher value estimates, partly because of observed preference heterogeneity towards the environmental attributes. An important observation is that scale heterogeneity is important: accounting for scale— as well as preference—heterogeneity in the generalised mixed logit model leads to significantly improved model fit. The results indicate significant unobserved error variance across respondents, unrelated to whether a high or low cost vector is used.     

城市森林步道个体环境偏好、恢复性评价与健康效益评估关系研究——以福道为例

已有大量研究证实，偏好程度越高的环境恢复性效益越高，且恢复性评价的提升有助于改善游览者对环境健康效益的评估。在此基础上，构建城市森林步道的环境偏好、恢复性评价和健康效益评估三者之间的路径模型以探讨其关系及作用机理，并以福道为例进行结构关系模型验证。结果表明：1)城市森林步道环境的一致性、易读性、复杂性和神秘性均能有效反映游览者对城市森林步道的环境偏好，以神秘性对环境偏好的影响最为显著；2)城市森林步道环境的远离、延展性、魅力性和兼容性均能有效反映游览者对城市森林步道的环境恢复性评价，以魅力性对恢复性评价的影响最为显著；3)游览者对城市森林步道的环境偏好对其恢复性评价有显著正影响，对城市森林步道环境的恢复性评价对其健康效益评估有显著正影响；4)虽然游览者对城市森林步道的环境偏好对其健康效益评估没有直接影响，但二者之间通过恢复性评价的中介效益产生了间接影响。     

Is Meta-Analysis a Noah's Ark for Non-Market Valuation?

This paper describes meta-analytical methods as they have been appliedto non-market valuation research. These studies have been used to reviewand synthesize literature and, more recently, in benefit transfer. Thissecond use imposes a higher standard on the consistency in economicconcepts being summarized and in the resources included in ameta-analysis. To meet this need, the paper proposes and illustrates astructural framework using a generalized method of moments estimator toestimate the parameters of a preference function with the benefitsestimates usually encountered in meta-analytic summaries.     

An Operative Framework for Total Hicksian Income Measurement: Application to a Multiple-Use Forest

A methodology for estimating total hicksian income in multiple-use forests is presented. The approach consistently incorporates commercial as well as non-commercial economic values and enables the measurement of national accounting aggregates taking into account variation in man-made and natural capital. Innovative solutions are developed (i) for the estimation of non-market values, such as recreation, where an attempt to determine exchange values has been made simulating markets, (ii) for timber, where standing timber valuation methods have been extended to cover uneven stands, and (iii) for carbon fixation valuation, where only permanently fixed carbon after 1990 has been taken into account. The methodology is applied to a multiple-use pinewood in the Guadarrama mountains, near Madrid (Spain). Timber, cattle grazing, hunting, recreation, carbon fixation and conservation values are measured and integrated in the accounting system, using primary microeconomic data from the case study. Results indicate the importance of non-commercial income, which accounts for 51% of the total income, and the social relevance of the analysed forest, implying that only 31% of the total income generated is appropriated by the forest owner.     

Quantifying public preferences for agri-environmental policy in Scotland: A comparison of methods

This paper compares two methods for determining policy priorities for reform of Scottish agricultural support. Multifunctional agriculture attempts to establish a new balance between traditional commodity support and payment for the production of non-market goods and services that are increasingly demanded by the public. Supplying non-market goods presents particular problems for optimal policy design, not least the elicitation of consumer demand for those goods. From public focus groups, a range of attributes was derived as central to the Scottish public’s preferences for future agri-environmental reform. This information was then combined in two separate survey methods using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and choice experiments (CE). Both applications suggest that the public has defined preferences and a willingness to pay (using general income taxation) to affect changes beyond the status quo, and that policy payments should be targeted towards both environmental and social benefits. The divergent preference orderings derived from the alternative methods can be considered in the light of previous methodological debates on question framing, bounded rationality and respondent uncertainty. We speculate about the validity of alternative methodologies for informing particular policy questions.     

耕地资源非市场价值及其评估方法分析

非市场价值是耕地资源无法忽略的重要组成部分,耕地资源过多向非农用途转变的根本原因在于人们对耕地资源的价值认识不足.文章在评析耕地资源价值理论的基础上,系统地分析了耕地资源的非市场价值及其构成,并讨论了耕地资源非市场价值的各种评估方法及其局限性,以促进我国耕地资源非市场价值评估理论和方法的进一步完善.     

A Nonparametric Revealed Preference Approach to Measuring the Value of Environmental Quality

We develop an approach to valuing non-market goods using nonparametric revealed preference analysis. We show how nonparametric methods can also be used to bound the welfare effects of changes in the provision of a non-market good. Our main context is one in which the non-market good affects the marginal utility of consuming a related market good. This can also be framed as a shift in the taste for, or quality of, the market good. A systematic approach for incorporating quality/taste variation into a revealed preference framework for heterogeneous consumers is developed. This enables the recovery of the minimal variation in quality required to rationalise observed choices of related market goods. The variation in quality appears as a adjustment to the price for related market goods which then allows a revealed preference approach to bounding compensation measures of welfare effects to be applied.     

基于云模型的基础设施项目可持续性评价

基础设施项目可持续性评价是基础设施项目决策的重要组成部分。在文献研究的基础上,构建了城镇基础设施项目可持续性评价指标体系。在评价过程中,针对基础设施项目可持续性表现出的随机性和模糊性等特点和评价过程中决策者可能存在的属性状态偏好,引入云模型描述基础设施项目可持续性的各属性,实现了基础设施项目可持续性的不确定性度量,并通过惩罚因子对属性值进行修正,提出了基于云模型的基础设施项目可持续性评价方法。     

Harvest Decisions and Spatial Landscape Attributes: The Case of Galician Communal Forests

In recent years, forest management has moved towards a landscape approach reflecting a mix of social, environmental and economic values. In this paper, we evaluate the effect on harvesting decisions of the spatial attributes of communal forests in Galicia. We first model the forest landscape management problem within a bioeconomic framework, which allows the identification of optimal clear-cutting strategies. This framework makes it possible to model a Faustmann-type rotation at the landscape level. The empirical analysis uses data from communal forests in Galicia, Spain. Under communal ownership, members of a rural community have rights to forest resources, but not rights to the forest itself. The management of communal forests integrates multiple forest uses within the decision making process. Given the communal nature of forest rights, and given these multiple uses, we show that landscape patterns—fragmentation, diversity and clumpiness—determine rotation periods.     

欧洲乡村景观价值解读与评估方法对中国的启示

中国具有丰富的乡村景观,但其价值解读与评估方法还存在不足。文化景观研究以动态整体的视角解读景观价值,评估景观质量,准确把握景观特征和演进规律。欧洲国家的乡村景观研究起步较早,以维持土地资源永续利用和延续历史文脉特征为重点的景观解读与评估方法有助于引导乡村可持续发展。从自然、文化、经济、社会与美学等方面梳理了乡村景观价值及其载体要素,分析了欧洲国家典型的乡村景观评估方法,以期为中国乡村景观研究提供借鉴。     

游客文化差异性特征对其景观偏好的影响

探索不同文化背景下游客的景观偏好是进行跨文化旅游市场研究的基础,但具体的个体差异比如个人主义/集体主义或不确定性规避究竟对游客的景观偏好产生了什么样的影响,目前并没有确切的结论。本研究以世界自然遗产地武陵源风景区为例,选取了7类主要景观类型、19个具体代表景点,综合运用问卷调查和照片评价法面向游客进行调研。通过SPSS软件对问卷数据进行描述统计、方差分析、因子分析、相关分析等,研究发现个人主义/集体主义、居住地都与景观偏好不存在显著相关,但不确定性规避、年龄和景观偏好三者之间有显著相关。     

Modelling Heterogeneity and Uncertainty in Contingent Valuation: an Application to the Valuation of Informal Care

Both the lack of market data and the need to adopt a more holistic approach in the valuation of non‐market activities within health care have pointed towards the use of contingent valuation (CV) methods. However, to date, few studies have employed such techniques to value informal care, despite its provision being an important public policy question. We propose an analytical framework that through the use of random parameters models and respondents' certainty scales can incorporate both unobserved and observed heterogeneity in the CV modelling. This is the first CV study of informal care for Scotland (UK) and a £7.68 per hour value is estimated.     

Modelling and mapping spatial heterogeneity in forest recreation services

Modelling and spatial mapping of recreation services require attention to both demand and supply factors. This paper combines recreational choice modelling and economic valuation with GIS based techniques to allow an assessment of the spatial diversity of the value of forest recreation services. The data for the analysis is a national study of the car borne recreational use of Danish forest sites. A random utility framework is used and a comparison between the standard fixed coefficient model and a mixed logit model is made. The results show that the different specifications of the random utility models reveal similar preferences for the measured forest attributes in terms of sign and magnitude. The spatial predictions, however, reveal a considerable difference in the spatial pattern of economic benefits from recreation between the two models. These results have implications for current ecosystem service mapping initiatives as they emphasise the need to account for spatial heterogeneity in preferences, and aggregate demand and environmental attributes and infrastructure.     

Developing and applying a framework to evaluate participatory research for sustainability

The normative implications of participatory research imply ongoing social learning that ought to lead to personal and institutional transformation. Sustainability science also requires reflexive scientific practice in order to enable the co-generation of solutions that take account of uncertainty and multiple forms of knowledge. However, there is little published peer-reviewed material on how to assess to what degree the rhetoric regarding the benefits of participatory research are achieved in practice, particularly with regard to participatory research for sustainability. This paper outlines how linking the rationales for participatory research and for sustainability science to the principles of evaluation can deliver a conceptually coherent evaluation framework for assessment. The approach for evaluating participatory research in this context consists of framing the evaluation, i.e., setting boundaries on the subject within its social, political, environmental and institutional context and selecting appropriate criteria, methods and data sources. The application of the framework, using a summative evaluation of participatory research for sustainability in north-east Australia, illustrates its strengths and weaknesses, concluding with a consideration of its applicability to further participatory sustainability science.     

Can Weak Substitution be Rehabilitated?

This paper develops a graphical analysis and an analytical model that demonstrate how weak substitution can be used for non-market valuation. Weak complementarity and weak substitution represent preference restrictions that allow us to develop equivalent price changes to describe quantity or quality changes in non-market goods. The price changes are Hicksian equivalents in that they yield the same utility changes as would the quantity or quality changes. After discussion of several potential applications of weak substitution, the paper develops the parallel between the restriction and recent strategies from modeling differentiated goods.     

Valuation and management of tropical forests

This paper develops a framework for the valuation and management of tropical forests that reflects their ecological and economic characteristics. The analysis demonstrates the importance of modeling the feasible use patterns and the information structure in tropical forest management decisions. The model predicts that cases exist where the foresighted management of forests leads to more preservation than the traditional expected value approach. An application in Thailand provides evidence that such cases occur in relevant ranges of benefit flows. The model focuses tropical forest management on assessments of sustainability and feasible sequences in light of uncertainty and information flows.