Aaron Strong

Measuring Price Elasticities for Residential Water Demand with Limited Information

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 for matched months across years. This strategy reduces the interaction effects of outdoor use and demographic factors in determining responsiveness to price. By comparing years that vary in overall water availability, the framework can recover measures of how responses to price vary with season and drought conditions. The application is the urban Phoenix metropolitan area. (JEL H42, Q25)

Communities, Competition, Spillovers, and Open Space

We explore the impact of the spatial distribution of developers on the private provision of open space. Our analysis yields three main findings. First, we demonstrate that the mixed public good nature of open space (relative to private lot consumption) can lead a single land rent-maximizing developer to over-supply open space relative to the utility-maximizing level. Second, by explicitly incorporating the spatial distribution of open-space spillovers, we show how competition can lead not only to inefficient levels of open space, but also to inefficiencies in its spatial distribution. Finally, we evaluate the impact of market-based open-space instruments. (JEL H41, R14)

How should the health benefits of food safety programs be measured

PURPOSEnThis chapter reports estimates of consumers preferences for plans to improve food safety.nnnDESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACHnThe plans are distinguished based on whether they address the ex ante risk of food borne illness or the ex post effects of the illness. They are also distinguished based on whether they focus on a public good--reducing risk of illness for all consumers or allowing individual households to reduce their private risks of contracting a food borne pathogen.nnnFINDINGSnBased on a National Survey conducted in 2007 using the Knowledge Network internet panel, our findings indicate consumers favor ex ante risk reductions and are willing to pay approximately

Species Specific Recreational Demand: The Case of Trout Fishing in Alberta

250 annually to reduce the risk of food borne illness. Moreover, they prefer private to public approaches and would not support efforts to reduce the severity of cases of illness over risk reductions.nnnORIGINALITY/VALUEnThis study is the first research that allows a comparison of survey respondents choices between public and private mechanisms for ex ante risk reductions.

Roles of climate and agricultural practices in discharge changes in an agricultural watershed in Iowa

Abstract Many native trout reintroduction programmes and non-native trout suppression programmes are being sold to the public on the fact that through these programmes anglers can catch more and bigger fish. Most studies of recreational demand lump all species within a category of fish into a single species such as lumping rainbow, brook and bull trout into trout. This study disaggregates the effects of individual species on recreational demand. Our goal is to understand the role of species specific characteristics on recreational demand that may or may not be observable. We find that the interaction between angler characteristics and species plays a major role in how anglers choose locations.