Measuring the benefits of local publilc goods: environmental quality in Gaston County,North Carolina |
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| Authors: | Leon Danielson Thomas J Hoban George Van Houtven John C Whitehead |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics , North Carliona State University , Raleigh , North Carolina , USA;2. Department of Sociology and Anthropology , North Carolina State Univesity , Raleigh , North Carolina , USA;3. Center for Economics Research, Research Triangle Institute , Research Triangle Park, North Carolina , USA;4. Department of Economics , East Carolina University , Greenville , North Carolina , USA |
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| Abstract: | Local governments across the United states have been confronted with a growing range of federal and state-mandated environmental protection programmes. It is found that an application of contingent valuation to a local environmental policy is internally valid by theoretically and empirically examining the economic determinants of responses to a hypothetical referendum. The resulting option price estimate is statistically reliable and has a reasonable order of magnitude. Results indicate that respondents are willing to pay for improvements in water quality,but not air qualilty. It is found that informatiion from various external sources helps to explain risk perceptions, and these perceptions, in turn influence willingness to pay. The aggregate benefits of an air and water polllution control programme to Gaston County are estimated to be $13.07 million annually with a 90% confidence interval of $11.07 million and $16.12 million. |
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