This paper proposes a new approach to benefit transfer. The method assumes a specific form for preferences and uses available benefit information to identify and calibrate the preference parameters to match the existing benefit estimates. This approach assures economic consistency of the...

Tropical forests may contribute to the well-being of local people by providing a form of ``natural insurance.’ ’ We draw on microeconomic theory to conceptualize a model relating agricultural risks to collection of non-timber forest products. Forest collection trips are positively correlated...

Payments for environmental services (PES) are popular despite little empirical evidence of their effectiveness. We estimate the impact of PES on forest cover in a region known for exemplary implementation of one of the best-known and longest-lived PES programs. Our evaluation design combines...

This paper evaluates public investments in forest-based microenterprises as part of an integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) in the Brazilian Amazon. We combine matching with regression to quantify the effects of program participation on household income, wealth, and...

This paper provides evidence that public goods represent a more acceptable response to public harms than monetary compensation. We demonstrate a preference for public goods over monetary compensation, in part because receipt of public goods may limit the sense of guilt or bribery from accepting...

This paper proposes a water quality trading design that addresses common implementation problems. Trading ratios, which are calculated from damages integrated over each source’s spatial zone of influence, drive the system to a socially costeffective outcome. The design is applied to combined...

In 1994, residents of Marietta, Georgia, participated in a pay-as-you-throw solid waste demonstration project. Rather than pay a fixed monthly fee for collection, half of the residents paid a fee per reusable trash can, and half paid for each nonreusable trash bag collected. Data from both a...

This paper exploits the seasonal and annual changes in marginal prices for water to estimate the price elasticity of demand by residential households for water. It uses the changes in distributions of water used at the census block group levels in response to changes in marginal prices of water...

This paper outlines a new revealed preference method to estimate the effects of changes in land use associated with residential development on water quality and the implied ecosystem services at the watershed level. The analysis integrates data describing several types of behavior and uses...

Deciding how to allocate forage among animals is a fundamentally important process in range management. The wisdom of these decisions can be enhanced by estimating the marginal value of forage needed by competing species. We present a method for ...