Recent modelling of the costs and benefits of climate change has renewed debate regarding assumptions for the social discount rate in analysing the impacts of environmental change. Previous ...literature suggests two key factors influence estimates of the social discount rate: the rate of pure time preference and the elasticity of marginal utility of future consumption. These components of the social discount rate reinforce the linkages between the choice of social discount rate and intergenerational distribution. This paper addresses the question of the relationship between intergenerational equity and the social discount rate and promotes the application of intergenerational distributional weights as a means of incorporating intergenerational equity preferences in policy analysis. Intergenerational equity-adjusted social discount rates are derived as a means of decomposing the intergenerational equity aspect of the social discount rate. The work has significant policy implications for projects with long time frames given the sensitivity of Cost Benefit Analysis outcomes to decisions regarding the social discount rate.
Computer mediated communication (CMC) is used to foster a collaborative learning environment in a number of courses within the Faculty of Business and Law at Deakin University. This paper examines ...how this technology has been implemented at the undergraduate level in the School of Economics and some key issues arising from this experience are identified and discussed. Although the practical experience described has been gained from a particular discipline based initiative, the issues raised pertain to all disciplines. The potential provided by integrating technology into the curriculum is exciting, however this paper highlights some of the areas that need consideration when implementing an asynchronous learning network (ALN). No definitive guidelines have been provided, rather the way to maximise educational outcomes will only be found as experience and practical use is extended and shared within the academic community.
The assessment of the economic benefits of cultural events is necessary to inform decision-making. In many cases cultural events are designed to attract tourists and the injection of tourist spending ...to a local economy is one of the drivers for hosting events. From an economic perspective, the impact of staging an event can be measured using either an expenditure multiplier or a cost benefit analysis (CBA) approach. One of the difficulties with CBA is the data required to estimate the relevant benefit function. This paper addresses this limitation by illustrating how benefit functions can be parameterised with minimal data, thereby enhancing the possibility of using CBA. Our approach is illustrated with a case study of an exhibition held by a regional community in Australia. The case study compares economic impact assessments and finds using benefit estimates as we propose provides a useful method of estimating benefits with limited data.
•Estimating economic impact with minimal data.•Ability to use cost benefit analysis with minimal data.•Comparison of economic impact using different approaches.
This paper presents the first comprehensive synthesis of economic valuations of wetlands in developing countries. Meta-regression analysis (MRA) is applied to 1432 estimates of the economic value of ...379 distinct wetlands from 50 countries. We find that wetlands are a normal good, wetland size has a negative effect on wetland values, and urban wetlands and marine wetlands are more valuable than other wetlands. Wetland values estimated by stated preferences are lower than those estimated by market price methods. The MRA benefit transfer function has a median transfer error of 17%. Overall, MRA appears to be useful for deriving the economic value of wetlands at policy sites in developing nations.
This paper presents the analysis of a choice experiment designed to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) to mitigate damages caused by invasive plant species in a rural community of Nepal. In order to ...address the cash constraints problem in a subsistence economy, two payment attributes, labour contribution and membership fee, were included in the choice sets. The results reveal that rural farmers have significant WTP for forest management activities, in terms of both cash and labour contributions. The results also suggest that rural farmers value their time in this context at a different rate from the current wage rate.
Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus Maccoyii) is a global resource, which is critically endangered. The Committee for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna sets commercial quota levels for member ...nations, including Australia, each year. However, southern bluefin tuna is also a popular “trophy” fish with recreational anglers. The size of the total recreational catch, which is not included in the quota, is unknown but thought to be significant. This paper reports the findings of a study designed to estimate the recreational value of the non‐commercial southern bluefin tuna catch at Portland, in southwest Victoria. The results indicate that the size of the recreational catch at Portland is considerable and therefore significant in terms of the management of the fishery. Furthermore, the non‐market recreational values associated with the fishery are substantial with the on‐site recreational use value (consumer surplus) per person per visit estimated to be between $33 and $132 and the on‐site annual recreational use value of the fishery for one season is estimated to be between $449,533 and $1,325,124.
Water resource managers and planners are continually involved in defining and evaluating alternative policies to better meet changing water supply conditions and the expectations of society. To ...undertake such long-term water supply planning, this study developed a novel integrated system dynamics model to combine economic, social and scientific variables and considerations within the planning horizon. Extensive sensitivity analysis for these variables was considered in this long term water resource planning process. The analysis suggests that over a longer time horizon, desalination provides a more viable, cost effective and secure bulk water supply alternative when compared to building large rain-dependent dams.
•Interdisciplinary analysis of long term water supply planning incorporating economic, social and environmental variables.•Comparison of dam and desalination costs•Sensitivity of planning to social discount rate, water security index, population growth and scale of capital investment•Over long term, desalination is a more cost effective supply augmentation alternative.
There are limitations associated with the application of nonmarket valuation techniques, including choice experiments, in subsistence economies. In part, this is due to the concern that using money ...as a mode of contribution may not capture the potential contribution of low‐income households. To address this limitation, respondents in this study were provided with the option of contributing towards the management of invasive plants in labour terms if they were unwilling to contribute in monetary terms. The results show that the existing practice of using dollar values to estimate willingness to contribute may disproportionately exclude the concerns of some groups within the community. The analysis also indicates that allowing respondents to express their willingness to contribute in labour increases their participation in environmental decision‐making processes and hence increases the estimated value of forest ecosystem services. This study contributes to the limited empirical literature on the development of nonmarket valuation surveys, particularly choice experiments, in low‐income countries in general and rural areas in particular.
Determining social values for protecting coastal assets, including coastal parks, beaches and foreshores, is important because of potential losses with climate change impacts. In a case study ...application in Victoria, Australia, the travel cost method was applied to value the use of camping parks by visitors, and the choice modelling technique was applied to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) of visitors and residents to avoid future losses in foreshore campground access and beach width, through protection and adaptation efforts. While both visitors and residents had similar values for park and campsite, and beach protection, residents valued beach protection as more important whereas visitors placed greater importance in protecting parks and campsites. Visitor values were higher for sites and beaches closer to metropolitan Melbourne. These results provide government agencies and coastal managers with better information about protection values for low lying coastal assets and will enable more informed decisions to be made about investing in coastal protection and the management of specific resources in the face of sea level rise and climate threats.
Industry faces increasing problems in dealing with waste products resulting from production processes. One specific problem is that of waste-water, where the management of production process waste ...often imposes costs, not only to the firm, but also to society. This article addresses the management of industry waste-water, from the perspective of both the individual firm and society in general, by analysing a case study of a dairy factory. Construction costs of horizontal subsurface flow wetlands of a sufficient size to treat a dairy factory's process waste-waters are estimated. Short-term profitability objectives do not prompt project development, however, over the long term, some of the project options modelled reveal both a net private benefit and a net social benefit. In the absence of estimated externalities, projects become viable after 11 years (2 per cent discount rate), and 16 years (7 per cent discount rate). Without some form of environmental policy, no project options will be considered because of the company's four-year return on investment rule. This highlights the policy dilemma associated with sharing the burden of the costs of improved environmental outcomes between the private and public sectors.
PDF
