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Intertemporal Valuation of River Restoration

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  • Andrew Meyer

Abstract

Willingness to pay for an environmental improvement is a function of how long it takes to deliver the improvement. To measure the effect of time on benefits, I utilize a discrete choice experiment that includes an attribute for delay until the improvement occurs and simultaneously estimate discount rates and valuation parameters. I estimate the present value of immediate and delayed Minnesota River Basin improvements using discount rates directly estimated from the econometric model. Compared to an immediate river basin cleanup, Minnesota residents lose almost half of the benefits when cleanup is delayed by 5 years. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

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  • Andrew Meyer, 2013. "Intertemporal Valuation of River Restoration," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(1), pages 41-61, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:54:y:2013:i:1:p:41-61
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-012-9580-4
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    Cited by:

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    2. Andersson, Henrik & Hole, Arne Risa & Svensson, Mikael, 2016. "Valuation of small and multiple health risks: A critical analysis of SP data applied to food and water safety," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 41-53.
    3. West, Grant H. & Snell, Heather & Kovacs, Kent & Nayga, Rodolfo M., 2020. "Estimation of the preferences for the intertemporal services from groundwater," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304220, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Lew, Daniel K., 2018. "Discounting future payments in stated preference choice experiments," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 150-164.
    5. Carrasco-Garcés, Moisés & Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe & Ponce Oliva, Roberto D. & Diaz Pincheira, Francisco & Barrientos, Manuel, 2021. "Estimating the implicit discount rate for new technology adoption of wood-burning stoves," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Chunhua Wang & Changdong Zhang & Yong Wang, 2020. "Environmental satisfaction among residents in Chinese cities," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 2283-2301, November.
    7. Kenjiro Hirata & Shinsuke Ikeda & Masako Ikefuji & Myong-Il Kang & Katsunori Yamada, 2017. "Time Discounting, Ambiguity Aversion, and Preferences for Future Environmental Policies: Evidence from Discrete Choice Experiments," ISER Discussion Paper 1012, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    8. Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe & Carrasco, Moisés & Barrientos, Manuel & Gelcich, Stefan & Ponce Oliva, Roberto D., 2021. "Estimating discount rates for environmental goods: Are People’s responses inadequate to frequency of payments?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    9. Park, Dojin, 2021. "The Valuation of Soil Health Improvements and Ecosystem Services among Crop Producers in the U.S," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 314032, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Meredith S. Berry & Norma P. Nickerson & Amy L. Odum, 2017. "Delay Discounting as an Index of Sustainable Behavior: Devaluation of Future Air Quality and Implications for Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, September.
    11. Lloyd-Smith, Patrick & Adamowicz, Wiktor & Entem, Alicia & Fenichel, Eli P. & Rouhi Rad, Mani, 2021. "The decade after tomorrow: Estimation of discount rates from realistic temporal decisions over long time horizons," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 158-174.
    12. Robert J. Johnston & Kevin J. Boyle & Wiktor (Vic) Adamowicz & Jeff Bennett & Roy Brouwer & Trudy Ann Cameron & W. Michael Hanemann & Nick Hanley & Mandy Ryan & Riccardo Scarpa & Roger Tourangeau & Ch, 2017. "Contemporary Guidance for Stated Preference Studies," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(2), pages 319-405.
    13. Howard, Gregory & Whitehead, John C. & Hochard, Jacob, 2021. "Estimating discount rates using referendum-style choice experiments: An analysis of multiple methodologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    14. Tobias Holmsgaard Larsen & Thomas Lundhede & Søren Bøye Olsen, 2020. "Assessing the value of surface water and groundwater quality improvements when time lags and outcome uncertainty exist: Results from a choice experiment survey across four different countries," IFRO Working Paper 2020/12, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    15. Kaiser, Nina N. & Feld, Christian K. & Stoll, Stefan, 2020. "Does river restoration increase ecosystem services?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    16. McDonald, R.L. & Chilton, S.M. & Jones-Lee, M.W. & Metcalf, H.R.T., 2017. "Evidence of variable discount rates and non-standard discounting in mortality risk valuation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 152-167.
    17. Kragt, Marit Ellen, 2013. "Evidence-based Research in Environmental Choice Experiments," Working Papers 153335, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    18. Gregory Howard & John C. Whitehead & Jacob Hochard, 2020. "Estimating Discount Rates Using Referendum-style Choice Experiments: An Analysis of Multiple Methods," Working Papers 20-01, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Non-market valuation; Intertemporal choice; Discounting; Water pollution; D90; Q25; Q51; H43;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate

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