Geoffrey N. Kerr

Choice experiment adaptive design benefits: a case study*

Efficient experimental designs offer the potential to reduce required sample sizes, or to reduce confidence intervals for parameters of interest, in choice experiments. Choice experiment designs have typically addressed efficiency of utility function parameter estimates. The recently developed concept of C-efficiency recognises the salience of willingness to pay estimates rather than utility function parameters in studies that seek to put money values on attributes. C-efficiency design benefits have been illustrated in a theoretical context, but have not been tested in applied settings. This study reports a choice experiment field application that used initial responses to update statistical designs to maximise C-efficiency. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the revised design delivered significant reductions in the variance of willingness to pay estimates, illustrating that C-efficient designs can indeed decrease costs of choice experiments by reducing required sample sizes.

Recreation Values and Kai Tahu Management: The Greenstone and Caples Valleys

Three Crown‐owned pastoral leases at the head of Lake Wakatipu have been placed in a land bank for potential settlement of claims under the Treaty of Waitangi. Debate over the future of those leases has in some cases been based on arguments about who possesses rights to use or manage the land, and in other cases has been based upon the value of the land to alternative uses. This paper uses data collected by Cessford (1987) as the basis for application of the contingent valuation approach to categorical data to assist in resolution of the second form of argument.

Identifying Cultural Service Values of a Small River in the Agricultural Landscape of Canterbury, New Zealand, Using Combined Methods

Intensification of agricultural production involving groundwater irrigation is increasingly significant in many countries but can have negative impacts upon the ecosystem cultural services of rural streams and rivers. These are difficult to value, particularly in contested situations. Using a case study in Canterbury, New Zealand, a combination of Q method and a choice experiment is presented as a robust and transparent way to identify important cultural services of streams and rivers, and to assess their relative values. Empirical insights are offered, methodological issues discussed, and management implications identified.

What are they hunting for? Investigating heterogeneity among sika deer (Cervus nippon) hunters

Abstract Context. New Zealand’s Game Animal Council has the opportunity to manage game animals. However, effective management requires understanding of the benefits to hunters of hunting-game resources and how those benefits and behaviours change in response to changes in hunt attributes, including game-animal densities, hunt duration, presence of other hunters and travel distance. Aims. To identify different typologies of recreational sika deer (Cervus nippon) hunters and to measure the importance of salient hunt attributes for the different groups, to identify opportunities for enhancing recreational hunting experiences. Methods. We explored hunter differences through factor analysis and cluster analysis, identifying three different groups of hunters on the basis of motivations and frequency of hunting. Preferences for hunt attributes were explored with a choice experiment that used a pivot design around actual travel distances to measure the relative importance of hunt-related attributes. Latent class analysis of choice-experiment responses identified three discrete groups of hunters who sought different activity settings. Key Results. Results showed the high value of recreational hunting, and identified significant heterogeneity in hunter preference. Membership of the different clusters identified in the cluster analysis and motivations for hunting were not significant predictors of activity-setting preferences, whereas frequency of hunting was. One group of locals took short-duration hunts that were of low personal benefit. The other groups preferred longer hunts and received high personal benefits. Trophy potential was a significant determinant of the choice of hunt location. Conclusions. Changes in hunt attributes, such as deer density, trophy potential and presence of other hunters have significant effects on hunt benefits and site choice. Implications. Sika deer hunting is currently open access, which diminishes hunter benefits because of goal interference both within and among different groups of hunters. The present study identified potential gains from active management of sika deer and sika deer hunters.

Ethnic and Immigrant Differences in Environmental Values and Behaviors

ABSTRACT We report results from a decade of nationwide surveys of New Zealand registered voters and an application of the Natural Area Value Scale that identify differences between a limited set of ethnic groups and between people born in New Zealand and immigrants. Ethnicity and birthplace were important determinants of environmental orientations as measured by Natural Area Value Scale factor scores, perceptions of the state of a large number of environmental domains, and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. Our analysis highlights the importance of including interaction effects between ethnicity, immigrant status, and sociodemographic attributes. Results are consistent across environmental domains and activities, supporting the existence of fundamental interethnic differences in environmental perceptions, orientations, and behaviors.

Applied Benefit Transfer: An Australian and New Zealand Policy Perspective

This chapter provides an introduction to and review of the use of benefit transfer approaches and data within Australasian policy making. The focus is on applications within the last two decades and the role of transfer methods within legal, policy and institutional structures. While there has been substantial interest in benefit transfer, the number of practical applications remains limited in both Australia and New Zealand . The limited pool of primary valuation studies and challenges in value transfer has meant that to date, understanding about the validity and reliability of benefit transfer and the development of protocols to guide its use are still limited. Nonetheless, recent major policy issues and controversies such as conservation of the Great Barrier Reef and management of water in the Murray-Darling Basin have led to an increase in applications of benefit transfer, and also to the potential for misuse. Included in this chapter is a discussion of the acceptance of benefit transfer approaches for various applications, the prevalence of benefit transfer, and the legal role of benefit transfers within Australasian policy analysis. The chapter will also highlight the potential for benefit transfer to make benefit- cost analysis more useful to policy makers and more easily evaluated within Australasian policy contexts. The need for more work to provide confidence around processes and results is assessed.

Choice experiment assessment of public expenditure preferences

Preferences for changes to public expenditures were evaluated using a choice experiment. Results indicate potential efficiency gains from reallocation of expenditures to items with higher marginal welfare. In particular, respondents were found to prefer more spending on health, education and the environment, with health spending providing the highest marginal benefits. The public preferred less expenditure on income support. The choice experiment also identified the impacts of demographic factors. The approach is offered as a complement to prior approaches that research public preferences for budget allocation, with prospects for revelation of richer information for informing social decisions.