Traditionally, information collection for water quality management has been focused on biological data to describe environmental conditions, and stressor-condition-response relationships. While this kind of information is essential, other types of information e.g., economic information about the...

Many factors have led to an increased focus on the development of renewable energy sources. Anaerobic digesters, which convert methane into energy in the form of electricity, natural gas, or heat, are one such technology. Previous economic research has shown that subsidies are required for most...

The dissertation consists of two major components on the topic of environmental valuation using spatial hedonic pricing models.The first component deals with the specification of a spatial hedonic model. The focus is on how to include the spatial effects of observed house prices into a hedonic...

Mobility and air quality have emerged in recent years as major concerns in Bogota. Even though government authorities recognize that pollution control and congestion reduction are priorities in their policy agenda, there is little local understanding of the monetary benefits from improving urban...

In my first essay I report results from an analysis where representative methodsof estimation from the Classical and Bayesian approaches to statistical inference areempirically compared. The chosen Classical methods are based on Least Squares andMaximum Likelihood and the chosen Bayesian method...

Motivated by the problem of deer overabundance in many areas of the United States, this thesis investigates innovative incentive-compatible policy options to address the problem. Economists view deer populations as a renewable resource, a composite asset that provides both benefits and costs to...

The study examines the economic potential of an algal biodiesel industry in the US using a simulation-based partial equilibrium modeling approach. Different scenarios are constructed under various assumptions, and the price, cost, and demand and supply structure of the algal biodiesel industry...

This research focused on some of the major consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and their effect on the Ukrainian economy. Specifically, it focused on the indirect longer-term impacts of the Chernobyl accident on every major sector of the economy. These impacts included changes in the...

This study analyzed a pilot insurance program for pastures, rangeland, and forage called Rainfall Index (RI-PRF). It is designed as a risk management tool to insure against declines in the accumulated rainfall index within a geographic grid. Although conceptually RI is an easy to understand risk...

Motivated by several contemporary problems existing in U.S. agriculture, this thesis investigates three particular issues concerning different aspects of agricultural contracting between growers and processors. Specifically, the first essay investigates the relationship between the use of...