We provide a simplified test to determine if choice data from a two-commodity consumption set satisfies the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference (GARP), and thus the preference or utility maximization hypothesis. We construct an algorithm for this test and illustrate its application on...

Both early and recent work have highlighted certain similarities between rational and irrational demand. We re-examine these findings using experimental choice data. After separating our subjects' choices into rational and irrational subsets based on consistency with the axioms of revealed...

Sensitivity to scope has become an acid test for the validity of responses to non-market valuation scenarios. We examine the theoretical relationship between whether a subject's responses exhibit sensitivity to scope and whether consistent preferences underlie those responses. We find that...

There has been considerable discussion about the extent to which motor-vehicle use in the US is “subsidized,†making petroleum-based motor vehicle use more attractive than other transportation modes. Estimates of these subsidies vary widely, and in many cases can be criticized on...

Analyses of the full social cost of motor vehicle use in the US often estimate an “oil import premium†that includes the military cost of defending oil supplies from the Persian Gulf. Estimates of this cost have ranged from essentially zero to upwards of a $1 per gallon (about $0.25...

The detrimental effects of ambient ozone on crops, even at relatively low concentrations, are well-established (Thompson et al., 1976; Heck and Brandt, 1977; Heck et al., 1982; Environmental Protection Agency, 1984; California Air Resources Board, 1987; Olszyk et al., 1988a, 1988b; Heagle et al., 1986; McCool et al., 1986,...

Particles and gases in the atmosphere scatter and absorb light, and thereby reduce visibility (Watson and Chow, 1994; Richards et al., 1990; Ozkaynak et al., 1985). Although natural sources of particles, such as volcanoes, can significantly degrade visibility, it generally is true that “when...

Abstract Air pollution from motor vehicles, electricity-generating plants, industry, and other sources can harm human health, injure crops and forests, damage building materials, and impair visibility. Economists sometimes analyze the social cost of these impacts, in order to illuminate...

The effects of ozone air pollution on the agricultural sector are an important environmental challenge facing policy makers. Most studies of the economic impact of air pollution on agriculture have found that a 25% reduction in ambient ozone would provide benefits of at least $1-2 billion...

Over the past five years, analysts and policymakers have become increasingly interested in the “full social cost†of motor vehicle use. Not surprisingly, there is little agreement about how to estimate the social cost or why, with the result that estimates and interpretations can...