Quantifying landscape externalities of renewable energy development: Implications of attribute cut-offs in choice experiments

Renewable energy is worldwide seen as a key element necessary to address climate change. However, finding socially acceptable locations for renewable energy facilities and the accompanying infrastructure increasingly often faces fierce opposition. This paper quantifies the landscape externalities of renewable energies employing a choice experiment. In addition, it is investigated how accounting for non-compensatory choice behavior, i.e. attribute cut-offs, affects welfare measures and subsequently policy recommendations. The empirical application is Germany where we conducted a nationwide survey on the development of renewable energies. We first show that cut-off elicitation questions prior to the choice experiment at least partially influence preferences. We further find that most participants state cut-off levels for attributes. Many are, however, at the same time willing to violate the self-imposed thresholds when choosing among the alternatives. To account for this effect, stated cut-offs are incorporated into a mixed logit model following the soft cut-off approach. Model results indicate substantial taste heterogeneity in preferences and in the use of cutoffs. Also, welfare estimates are substantially affected. We conclude that welfare changes from renewable energy development could be strongly underestimated when cut-offs are ignored.     

Test for the real option in consumer behavior

Consumers become indecisive when facing too many choices. Economic analysis suggests that when a decision involves uncertain outcome, can be delayed and is irreversible, there will be a real option in the cost–benefit analysis. For example, the option to keep alive a consumer's purchasing decision has a significant value. It allows the consumer to take advantage of any future advantageous deals while avoiding the bad choices. This renders the consumer more hesitant. When a consumer decides to exercise his buying decision, he demands a compensation for the loss of this option. Hence, the benefits of a purchase must be over and above its costs by a wide margin (the option value). Data from a survey at a Turkish university on hypothetical purchase decisions confirmed the existence of this real option. We conclude with marketing policy recommendations and future research directions. Connection to the Prospect Theory is briefly explored.Note: Although the 3rd person singular pronoun he/his was used throughout to describe the consumer, he was intended to be gender-neutral.     

Valuation of ecosystem services provided by irrigated rice agriculture in Thailand: a choice experiment considering attribute nonattendance

This research investigates how the public of a middle‐income country, Thailand, values ecosystem services associated with irrigated rice agriculture using a choice experiment. The results show a significant willingness to pay for services such as drought mitigation, water quality and the environment and maintenance of rural lifestyles and rice landscapes. The iterative procedure developed to fully analyze the incidence of attribute nonattendance (ANA) improved the model fit when compared with a multinomial logit model or an ANA model with potentially only one attribute ignored at a time (ANA‐1). Moreover, the inferred probability of the class of respondents having attended all attributes was 45%, compared to 9% with ANA‐1 model. However, it also suggests that 55% of the respondents made their choices by considering only two of the five attributes. Finally, this research also suggests that failing to consider ANA does not change the public ranking of scenarios contrasted by the services they would provide but would overestimate the WTP for these scenarios.     

Attribute Identities Matter: Subjective Perceptions of Attribute Characteristics

Recent research indicates that attributes vary along multiple dimensions with implications for how trade-offs are resolved during choice. We present an exploratory study of the dimensionality underlying naïve subjects ratings of attributes on the characteristics commonly discussed in the literature on tradeoff resolution and decision difficulty. Factor analysis of attribute characteristic assessments indicates that subjects view decision attributes in a multi-dimensional fashion, including an importance/loss aversion dimension, an emotional potential/protection from tradeoffs dimension, and a cognitive difficulty dimension. These results suggest that a one-dimensional measure of attribute characteristics, such as a standard attribute importance rating, may obscure some factors determining individual responses to attributes during decision processing. However, the results also suggest that developing a relatively succinct set of scales in order to characterize the dimensions along with subjects response to attributes is a viable goal for future research.     

属性层次模型在课程负责人选聘中的应用

在高校众多的课程模块中，要充分调动、整合教学资源形成专业化的团队，科学地选拔课程负责人显得尤为重要。文章利用交叉学科的优势，通过属性层次模型（AHM）建立一个课程负责人的选聘评价体系，把以往对课程负责人定性的问题定量化．为课程负责人的选聘提供一种科学而且易于操作的方法。     

我国高被引作者群体属性研究

高被引作者是国家或地区最具影响力的科研群体,体现了国家或地区知识创新的制高点。利用中国引文数据库,对我国前100名高被引作者群体属性进行统计分析,并得出相应结果。从基本属性看,我国高被引作者平均发文量349篇,平均年龄64岁,集中于苏、浙、沪地区;从教育属性看,博士研究生已成为我国科技研究的主力军,且数量持续扩大,第一学历颁发单位较为分散,最后学历颁发单位较为集中;从研究领域看,自然科学仍占绝对优势;从流动性看,我国高被引作者流动性较好,但同时也存在一定程度的学术近亲繁殖现象;从职业属性看,绝大多数高被引作者集中在高校及科研院所,普遍缺少企业从业经历,且承担着较重的行政职务及较多的社会兼职。     

The influence of activity importance and similarity on perception of recreation substitutes

Abstract

This study examines how substitutes are selected for a fly‐angling and camping recreation activity. Results show that although people choose substitutes similar to their intended activity, the degree of similarity between substitute and original is unrelated to perceived quality of substitute. Also, both the quality of a substitute and the number of available substitutes are inversely related to the importance of an activity's attributes. The lack of a relationship between activity/substitute similarity and quality of the substitute poses problems for application of the substitutability concept.     

A Study to Improve the Method of Ascertaining Attribute Weight Based on Rough Sets Theory

There are some shortages to ascertain attribute weight based on rough set in current studies. In this paper, attribute importance represented by rough set is studied deeply. Aiming at the existing problems, algebra presentation of rough sets is proved to be more comprehensive than its information presentation, then a new method of ascertaining attribute weigh is put forward based on rough set conditional entropy. Finally, it is shown that the new method is more reasonable than the old one by an example.     

口述材料的档案属性及档案在修志中的利用

本文以新的视野论述了“档案”涵盖范围的新概念，应包括两个方面的内涵：一是社会实践活动直接形成的文件和材料；二是基于社会实践而产生的口述材料，前者是档案的基本组成部分，后者是档案的必要补充部分，二者同样具有知识形态的历史记录的属性。历史档案和口述材料的利用，必须认真考订，辩明其真伪错讹；史料入书要惜墨如金，达到文约而事丰的效果。     

略论农民专业合作社法的经济法属性

从分析农民专业合作社法的部门法属性的必要性入手,在对农民专业合作社法所体现的经济法的一般属性分析的基础上,着重对农民专业合作社法的相关具体内容所体现出来的经济法"管理型"立法和"促进型"立法所具有的特殊属性进行具体分析,指明农民专业合作社法具有经济法属性.