In many cities of the United States, measurements of ambient particulate matter air pollution (PM) are available only once every 6 days. Time-series studies conducted in these cities that investigate the relationship between mortality and PM are restricted to using a single day’s PM as the...

In many countries, consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V) is below recommendedlevels. We quantify the economic and health effects of F&V stamp policy designed for low income consumers. The analysis combined two models: an economic model which predictshow F&V consumption is affected by a...

Background: Consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The European Union Common Agricultural Policy keeps prices high by limiting the availability of fruits and vegetables. This policy is at odds with public health interests. We...

In the first chapter of this dissertation, I outline a hedonic equilibrium model that explicitly controls for moving costs and forward-looking behavior. Hedonic equilibrium models allow researchers to recover willingness to pay for spatially delineated amenities by using the notion that...

The economic costs of adverse health effects associated with exposure to wildfire smoke should be given serious consideration in determining the optimal wildfire management policy. Unfortunately, the literature in this research area is thin. In an effort to better understand the nature of these...

The effectiveness of SO{sub 2} emission allowance trading under Title 4 of the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA) is of great interest due to the innovative nature of this market incentive approach. However, it may be a mistake to frame the compliance problem for a utility as a decision...

This paper deals with the market for SO{sub 2} emission allowances over time and electric utility compliance choices. For currently high emitting plants ( 2.5 lb SO{sub 2}/MMBtu), the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) provide for about twice as many SO{sub 2} allowances to be issued per year...

This report provides background information for the Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) in its efforts to quantify the environmental externalities associated with new electricity resources. A more detailed companion document has been provided to Bonneville for internal use. This report...

Concentrations of environmental pollutants tend to follow positively skewed frequency distributions. Two such density functions are the gamma and lognormal. Minimum variance unbiased estimators of the expected value for both densities are available. The small sample statistical properties of...

This paper focuses on how electric utility companies can respond in their decision making to uncertain variables. Here we take a mean- variance type of approach. The ``mean`` value is an expected cost, on a discounted value basis. We assume that management has risk preferences incorporating a...