The Worth of a Possum: Valuing Species with the Contingent Valuation Method

The focus of this paper is on methods of assessing the value peopleplace on the conservation of species for use in policy making. Of principalinterest is the relatively new methodology of contingent valuation, whichis a method for asking people directly about their preferences. The paperpresents an application of the contingent valuation method to theconservation of an endangered species in the State of Victoria, Australia.The results emphasise the importance of careful survey design,implementation and analysis as well as the precise definition of theenvironmental good being valued. Consequently, the contingent valuationmethod does provide information relevant to decision making processesbased on monetary economic considerations. Thus, in orthodox economicterms it makes sense to conserve species – but there are other moral andethical grounds for conserving species as well.     

Valuing water for Chinese industries: a marginal productivity analysis

A marginal productivity approach is developed for valuing industrial use of water and applied using data from Chinese industrial firms, where water, as well as capital, labour and raw materials, are treated as inputs to a production function. Models on price elasticity of water demand associated with the marginal productivity approach are also developed and estimated for different Chinese industrial sectors.     

Hedonic Analysis in a Spatial Context: Theoretical Problems in Valuing Location-Specific Amenities*

Hedonic analysis is frequently implemented to generate implicit prices for location-specific amenities within single markets, either in cross-city wage differentials or in intra-city rent gradients. Amenities are shown to be generally priced in both land and labour markets, with single-market valuations tending to understate true amenity values. Establishing a correct multi-market amenity valuation model is seen to depend on the resolution of a host of additional issues.     

Looming stations: Valuing transport innovations in historical context

We investigate the impact of transport innovations on the productivity of urban locations in 1890–1936 Berlin, Germany. We find an increase in land value of up to 2.5% per 100 m decline in distance to urban railway station.     

Valuing Options in Water Markets: A Laboratory Investigation

Risk and reliability dominate water supply discussions in the arid western United States due to increasing demand and finite, weather-dependent supply. Water markets have evolved in this region so agencies could meet this growing demand. In a few instances, water agencies turned to contractual mechanisms such as options to manage supply. As demand continues to grow option markets and other novel approaches to allocating water may become increasingly popular. We utilize experimental economics to analyze the effect of annual options on water markets in the absence of sufficient real-world data for conventional econometric analysis. We find gains from trade are higher when options can be traded. Additionally, gains are more evenly distributed, particularly with a dominant buyer and many sellers. Findings suggest option markets may be a viable choice as policymakers prepare for future droughts.     

Valuing risk reductions: Incorporating risk heterogeneity into a revealed preference framework

Our study expands the hedonic wage framework to take advantage of the inherent differences in workplace deaths, both in type and probability of occurrence, and examines revealed preferences over these heterogeneous risks. We use data on all fatal workplace deaths in the US from 1992 to 1997 and develop risk rates that are differentiated by how the fatal injury occurred. Within sample tests of the equality of compensating wage differentials for heterogeneous risks indicate that we can reject aggregation of homicide risks with other sources of workplace fatalities. However, our results are not without qualification and highlight important nuances of the labor market as related to estimating compensating wage differentials for risks that have generally been ignored in the previous literature.     

Export Diversification in the Gulf: The Kuwait Experience

International Advances in Economic Research -     

Analytical and Empirical Features of Internal Ratings: An Empirical Consistency Test based on Statistical Models

Internal ratings represent an important input to the new generation of 'credit portfolio models' and to the new capital requirements proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision; however, their reliability must be validated. In this paper, we first recall the main theoretical and practical aspects explaining the relevance gained by internal ratings in the banks' operating practices and in the current reform proposals on bank capital regulation. We then show how some statistical models can be used to evaluate a rating system when no great amount on past data is available. To this goal, we first set up a binomial model to capture the main drivers of a borrower's default; then, we build a separate multinomial model to 'clone' the judgements issued by human experts. Finally, we compare the two models: the degree of consistency between them looks reasonable, but is far from being perfect. The main causes of these disagreements are analysed, and some improvements of the current rating process are proposed.
(J.E.L. G290, C250)     

Risk and Information: a Hedonic Price Study in the New Zealand Housing Market*

This paper employs the hedonic price approach developed by Rosen (1974) and recently extended to study the effects of potential natural hazards on consumer behaviour. Hedonic prices are used to estimate home buyers' willingness to pay to avoid a high-pressure gas pipeline installed in a residential area Studies of risk and information (e.g. Brookshire et al., 1985, Smith and Johnson, 1988) suggest that the subjective probability of a hazard occurring differs from the objective probability. If we allow for this, and relax the assumption of full information on the part of home buyers, our theoretical analysis indicates that a single hedonic price is not sufficient because hedonic prices are likely to change with a change in information. Our empirical analysis of cross-sectional data across time is in accord with the theoretical model, although not highly significant     

Consistency and optimality in a dynamic game of pollution control I: Competition

I model the interaction between a regulator and polluting firms as a Stackelberg differential game in which the regulator leads. The firms create pollution, which results in a stock extermality. I analyze the intertemporal effects of alternate pollution control measures in a competitive industry. The principal issue here concerns the dynamic inconsistency of the optimal solution. Inter alia, I compare the steady state levels of pollution under optimal and under time consistent policies.     

Valuing externalities from energy infrastructures through stated preferences: a geographically stratified sampling approach

The externalities produced by high-voltage transmission lines are multidimensional, may strongly depend on the local context, and are thus difficult to capture through standard environmental valuation exercises. We experiment a GIS approach to design a geographically stratified contingent valuation sample of the population resident in infrastructure corridors in a whole region. We estimate, by means of a binary choice logit model, the perceived marginal damage from impacts of power lines on human health, the landscape and the environment. Specific treatment is given to qualitatively different forms of impact, namely real estate depreciation versus diffused perception of damage, arising at different distances from the lines. The set of GIS-based variables (proximity to power lines, presence of other infrastructure, endowment of natural and built heritage and other local context variables) prove to be significant predictors in the utility function of resident households. Finally, we compute simulated values that combine information on individual’s willingness to pay, population density and the dimension of the considered corridor around the infrastructure, so as to generalize the outcomes of case-specific studies for use in policy choices such as infrastructure localization, undergrounding and negotiation of compensations.     

Consistency and optimality in a dynamic game of pollution control II: Monopoly

This paper continues a line of research begun in Batabyal (1995a). I model the interaction between a regulator and a monopolistic, polluting firm as a Stackelberg differential game in which the regulator leads. The firm creates pollution, which results in a stock externality. I analyze the intertemporal effects of alternate pollution control measures. The principal issue here concerns the dynamic inconsistency of the optimal solution. Inter alia, I compare the steady state levels of pollution under optimal and under dynamically consistent policies.     

基于一种新风险计量指标的资源配置优化模型

在证券投资理论中，资源配置优化模型取决于风险计量指标；风险计量指标不同，建立的优化模型也不同，求出的最优资源配置方案及投资的效果也不同，风险计量指标越科学，求出的最优资源配置方案越优，投资的效果越佳。     

社会保障制度风险：以新型农村养老保险为例

社会保障制度是一个复杂的系统,具有制度风险。新农保制度具有较为坚实的事实依据和价值基础,但制度仍处于起步阶段,具有保障无效风险、制度分割风险、城乡断裂风险、激励扭曲风险、动态失衡风险和政治刚性风险。为规避制度风险,新农保制度建设必须兼顾各种养老利益,渐进整合农村各类养老制度,逐步实现城乡统筹,不断明晰各方责任,调整激励机制与再分配机制。     

Consistency in performance rankings: the Peru water sector

Regulators can utilize a number of alternative methodologies for comparing firm efficiency, but these approaches need to be robust to be accepted by stakeholders. This study evaluates the consistency of water-utility performance rankings for Peruvian water utilities. The results indicate that data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) yield similar rankings in this case. In addition, the techniques have comparable success for identifying the best and worst performing utilities. However, these rankings based on sophisticated statistical techniques are not highly correlated with those developed by the Peruvian water regulator (SUNASS). This result does not invalidate the performance rankings obtained by the regulator, since those rankings are based on more dimensions of utility performance. However, they illustrate the importance of developing sound techniques for identifying weak utilities. Improvements in sector performance require that benchmarking be given greater attention than in the past.     

Valuing Credit Spreads on Quality Australian Dollar Eurobonds in a Multivariate EGARCH Framework

We apply a multivariate EGARCH model implied from the closed‐form valuation model of Longstaff and Schwartz (1995), to explain the time‐varying volatility of credit spreads on high‐quality Australian dollar Eurobonds with different maturities. The results support the proposition that relative credit spreads returns are negatively related to both changes in Australian Government bond yields and changes in the All Ordinaries Index. There is also evidence of a high level of volatility interaction and persistence between Australian dollar Eurobonds, though the volatility transmission mechanism is asymmetric in that negative innovations tend to increase the volatility in other bonds more than positive innovations.     

Counting Care Work in Social Policy: Valuing Unpaid Child- and Eldercare in Korea

This study demonstrates the usefulness of quantifying and valuing time spent on unpaid care work and explores the links between social policies, unpaid care work, and gender equality in the context of recent social care reforms in the Republic of Korea. Using information provided by two nationally representative surveys, this article elaborates on the gendered organization of care provision and the total costs of care services for children and the elderly, including unpaid family care, family expenditures on care services, and state support in the form of public expenditures. The study finds that omitting the role of family care services overestimates the state's role in caring for children and elderly adults. A closer look at the impact of long-term care insurance reveals the need for integrated analyses of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the social organization of care, especially in regard to gender equality.     

管理信贷风险:新千年的挑战

作者以俄罗斯和美国的信货情况为例，分析以为良性信货时期结束。然后，作者着重分析了信货风险管理和经济环境、独立的资产风险程序、回收率、有价证券组合模型、数据库等，认为更有效的信货风险管理分析资源在显著增长。