New policy is being developed that incorporates not only innovative means of disposal, including the integration of source reduction and recycling, but also innovative approaches to funding disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW). This study was conducted to determine if a higher marginal price...

The issue of solid waste management has risen to national prominence in the last decade, fueled by increasing waste disposal costs and changing public attitudes. This situation presents a major opportunity for economists to use their applied microeconomics skills to assist state and local...

The provision of municipal services by private contractors and cooperative arrangements has become increasingly prevalent in the US. Building on previous studies in Illinois and Wisconsin we attempt to model the municipal decision of how local governments provide residents with town services. In...

Despite the generally recognized need for facilities such as power plants, landfills, prisons, and medical laboratories, finding host sites has become extremely difficult. This study uses the expected utility (EU) model to explain individiuals' preferences in the hypothetical case of siting a...

Choices in production and contracting arrangements for a wide range of services were studied using data from approximately 1,000 small, mostly rural municipalities from Illinois, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Results suggest the use of both for-profit contractors and cooperative agreements with...

The potential sensitivity of environmental resource valuation to payment vehicles is of interest to researchers and decision-makers involved in estimating and applying these numbers. A conceptual model is developed which provides insight into how the different payment vehicles of a special tax...

Contingent valuation is used to measure the benefits of a proposed public program to control black flies. Respondents' reported values are analyzed from three perspectives: data outliners, consistency between respondents' reported values and their perceptions of black flies, and the temporal...