Brian Roach

Testing Transferability of Recreation Demand Models Across Regions: A Study of Corps of Engineer Reservoirs

This research tests the interchangeability of two specifications of travel cost demand models for recreation at U.S. Army Corps of Engineer reservoirs in Arkansas, California, and Tennessee/Kentucky. Statistical tests of coefficient equality for both nonlinear least squares and Heckman sample selection models suggest rejecting a transferable model among all three regions. However, the nonlinear least squares models in Arkansas and Tennessee were similar enough to fail to reject the hypothesis of equal coefficients at the 0.01 significance level. Even so, interchanging the Arkansas and Tennessee nonlinear least squares coefficients produces visitor use and total benefit estimates that are more than 100% too high. However, interchanging coefficients does provide reasonably close estimates of the average consumer surplus per trip for both states using the nonlinear least squares model (±5% to 10%). This is due to similarity of the price coefficients in the two models. Thus a more limited form of transferability which focuses on average benefit per day, rather than on predicting total use and total benefits, appears promising.

Testing Bid Design Effects in Multiple-Bounded, Contingent-Valuation Questions

Multiple-bounded, contingent-valuation questions have been proposed as an alternative to single-bounded and double-bounded questions. While the effects of bid design on multiple-bounded responses have not been explored, findings of experimental effects in single- and double-bounded questions make this a logical area of inquiry. We explore two potential experimental effects in multiple-bounded questions. Respondents may simply express welfare estimates in the center of the bid list. Also, the range of bids may systematically influence welfare estimates. We find while respondents do not center their responses, the range of bids influences welfare estimates and responses to individual bids. (Q26)

The Economic Value of Water in Recreation: Evidence from the California Drought

A significant barrier to economically efficient management of most reservoir systems is lack of reliable information about how recreational values change with reservoir levels. This paper presents evidence on marginal values of water for recreation at Corps of Engineer reservoirs in the Sacramento, California, District. Data on visitors were collected by origin and destination before and during the early part of the 1985–1991 California drought. Because lake levels varied widely during the sample period, waters effect on visits was isolated from price and other effects. An estimated regional travel cost model containing water level as a visit predictor provided information to compute marginal values of water in recreation. For the range of the lake levels seen, annual recreational values per acre-foot (1234 m3) of water vary from

Comparing 1994 Angler Catch and Harvest Rates from On-Site and Mail Surveys on Selected Maine Lakes

6 at Pine Flat Reservoir to more than

An Economic Analysis of the Pre-sidedress Nitrogen Test for Pennsylvania Corn Production

600 at Success Lake. These findings are limited to use values of visitors who travel to the reservoirs and do not reflect passive use values to people who value the reservoirs but never visit them. Analysts could apply similar methods to other river basins in which a public agency controls the management of multiple water uses.

Economic analysis of deer management alternatives on public lands in Northern California

Abstract Fishery managers use data on catch and harvest rates collected with both on-site and off-site angler surveys. Many researchers have hypothesized that catch rates from these surveys will differ systematically due to various biases. However, few direct comparisons have been made between the two survey methods using the same waters and seasons. We compared catch and harvest rates for three coldwater species, individually and combined, from concurrent mail and on-site surveys on five Maine lakes during the 1994 ice fishing season. Comparisons were also made for two Maine lakes during the 1994 open-water season. Estimates of catch and harvest from the mail survey exceeded the rates from on-site surveys in 28 of 38 comparisons for individual species. The average on-site to mail survey ratio was 0.40 for catch rates and 0.66 for harvest rates but varied significantly by lake, season, and species. The results suggest that mail surveys do not produce accurate estimate of catch and harvest rates. In situat...

Valuing Environmental Quality Changes Using Averting Expenditures: An Application to Groundwater Contamination

The impacts of agriculture on water quality are receiving a high level of public attention. For example, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency recently concluded that agriculture is the leading contributor to nonpoint source pollution, and possibly the leading source of water pollution in the United States. Water quality issues associated with agriculture are nitrogen, phosphorous, soil, and pesticide pollution. This concern about the impact of agriculture on water quality has stimulated interest in production methods that reduce farm pollution. One approach to addressing the problem is adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs) that would reduce water pollution relative to conventional practices. Assuming that farmers are motivated by profits, adoption of BMPs will occur only if farmers expect higher profits. If BMPs do not increase profits, then adoption requires regulatory measures. The usual assumption of BMPs is that conventional production practices are technically and/or allocatively inefficient relative to BMPs. Under this assumption, farmers may be able to both reduce pollution and improve farm profits. Soil testing is a BMP that has long been used t manage phosphorous and potassium availability for crop production. Until recently, soil tests were considered to be of little value in

Policy evaluation of natural resource injuries using habitat equivalency analysis

Abstract Debates over grazing and wildlife issues on public lands are common in the Western U.S. This paper focuses on a controversy in the East Lassen Deer Herd Management Area in California and Nevada. Economic benefits accruing to mule deer hunters under present conditions, as well as two alternate management scenarios, are estimated. These benefits are compared to rancher losses. The results suggest that net economic benefits to society can be increased by decreased livestock grazing in this particular area.