Paddy productivity and variable factors efficiency were calculated based on a farm survey. Logit regression was employed to relate econometrically a set of farmer characteristics to indicators of pesticide exposure to identify types of health impairments that may be attributed to prolonged...

Salinity problems are primarily associated with coastal areas and irrigated lands in the dry zone of Sri Lanka, where the total irrigated area is about 0.5 million hectares. Since irrigation has been practiced in these areas from ancient times, salinity might have been a problem at least in...

Increased vehicle emission in Colombo is one of the most important environmental issues that has drawn the attention of policymakers, administrators, and environmentalists in the recent past. Various studies undertaken by regulatory agencies and researchers clearly indicate that inefficient...

Since the late 1960s, economists have been developing methodologies to measure environmental impacts. Among the approaches most widely used are the travel cost method (TCM) and the contingent valuation method (CVM). Generally, these methods provide a reasonable approximation of the value of a...

Industrialization has given birth to a new environmental problem in both developed and developing countries -- wastewater collection, disposal, and treatment. Inappropriate wastewater disposal is one of the major sources of water pollution in urban areas. The cost of wastewater collection,...

In 1995 the contribution of the forestry sector to the Sri Lanka economy was nearly 1.3 percent of the Gross National Product (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 1995). Its contribution to the national economy declined from 1.7 percent in 1988 to 1.4 percent in 1994 as can be seen in Table 1. The...

The objective of this paper is to address this research gap by looking into the issue of overfishing using a sectoral approach (i.e., in terms of commercial fisheries, municipal fisheries and total marine fisheries). It is hoped that the results will help show whether or not overfishing indeed...

This paper presents findings from a study completed in May 1998 by WWF-Indonesia and EEPSEA to assess the economic value of damage caused by the 1997 fires and haze. The work was carried out by EEPSEA and WWF staff and academic researchers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, with...

Widespread water shortages in Metro Manila have made the urban water problem a central policy issue. President Ramos recently called a "Water Summit Meeting" and directed all concerned agencies to develop a short- and medium-term strategy for addressing the impending water crisis. In Congress,...

Improving lake water quality is believed to increase the economic value of recreational resorts. However, few empirical estimates have been made in China to determine the value of the economic benefits brought about by such improvements. In this study, two non-market valuation methods,...