Jennifer A. Thacher

Intra-Regional Amenities, Wages, and Home Prices: The Role of Forests in the Southwest

Forests provide non-market goods and services that people are implicitly willing to pay for through hedonic housing and labor markets. But it is unclear if compensating differentials arise in these markets at the regional level. This empirical question is addressed in a study of Arizona and New Mexico. Hedonic regressions of housing prices and wages using census and geographic data show that forest area carries an implicit price of between

Wildfire smoke health costs: a methods case study for a Southwestern US ‘mega-fire’

27 and

A Hedonic Price Analysis of the Outfitter Market for Trout Fishing in the Rocky Mountain West

36 per square mile annually. Compensating differentials at the regional level suggest that care must be taken when applying the travel cost method to value regionally delineated characteristics. (JEL Q23, R14)

Linking Forest to Faucets in a Distant Municipal Area: Public Support for Forest Restoration and Water Security in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Exposure to wildfire smoke can increase morbidity in urban areas. Economists are increasingly calling for such health impacts to be included in wildfire damage assessments. However, collecting original health outcome data is costly and time-consuming. Benefits transfer is a more accessible alternative that is often employed. Yet several methodological issues remain unexplored regarding transfers of economic values and air quality concentration-response functions. Ignoring these issues may lead to misinformed wildfire policy based on inexact estimates of smoke-induced health costs. This research provides a case study illustration of a new air quality benefit transfer tool, the US EPA benefits mapping and analysis program-community edition (BenMAP-CE), which is used to estimate smoke damages of a Southwestern US ‘mega-fire’ event and investigate methodological issues surrounding the analysts choice between transferring results from ‘wildfire-specific’ and ‘urban air’ (unrelated to wildfire) studies. Results indicate that the economic costs of wildfire smoke are substantial. Additionally, transfer of wildfire-specific study results produces substantially higher morbidity estimates and costs compared to use of results from urban air studies. These findings demonstrate (1) that BenMAP-CE can be applied to wildfire events and (2) the importance of transferred study appropriateness when conducting a smoke damage assessment using benefits transfer.

Using Canonical Correlation Analysis to Identify Environmental Attitude Groups: Considerations for National Forest Planning in the Southwestern U.S.

Trout is the most popular sport fish in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico where fishing outfitters bring revenues to many rural economies. This article uses the hedonic pricing method on a monopolistically competitive outfitter market in those four states to examine angler values for trout fishing characteristics. A total of 1,685 fishing trip observations were collected from 198 outfitter websites during the 2009 fishing season. Vectors of variables describe states, trip characteristics, trout species, and river destinations. Descriptions were used to estimate marginal implicit prices for fishing characteristics. Anglers highly valued fishing in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado relative to New Mexico and fishing for only cutthroat trout as compared to brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout together. Anglers also preferred quality indicators such as trophy-size trout opportunities, blue ribbon stream designation, and private land access. Results are related to cutthroat trout conservation strategies and recent state legislative bills regarding stream access.

Using Angler Characteristics and Attitudinal Data to Identify Environmental Preference Classes: A Latent-Class Model

Reducing wildfire risk through forest restoration is vital for the sustainability of watersheds and the human systems that depend upon them. However, identifying public support and securing necessary funding to cover restoration costs is an important implementation challenge. Payment for ecosystem services models may help meet restoration objectives. While examples exist that show how funds can be generated from the public living near forestlands, an unresolved issue is whether households in a relatively distant municipal area would significantly support wildfire risk reduction efforts. This is an important issue as distant households often receive benefits from wildfire risk reductions, such as water source protection for municipal drinking water supply. The objective of this paper is to analyze survey-based contingent valuation data to investigate public support among urban Albuquerque, New Mexico (NM) households for restoration of a watershed that impacts the urban water supply security, but is spatially removed from the urban area. Econometric results show evidence of both significant public support for forest restoration-linking forests to faucets- and the importance of accounting for respondent uncertainty. The latter involves both: (i) uncertainty in the preferences for water security as an important collectively provided good (“preference uncertainty”); and (ii) uncertainty in the possibility that restoration activities across a forested landscape or watershed might actually deliver improved water security (“delivery uncertainty”). Econometric estimation results from a Double Hurdle model indicate a mean annual household willingness to pay (WTP) of US

Relating environmental attitudes and contingent values: how robust are methods for identifying preference heterogeneity?

64.44 (with a 95% of confidence interval of US

Using Patient Characteristics and Attitudinal Data to Identify Depression Treatment Preference Groups: A Latent-Class Model

61.57–US

A Joint Latent-Class Model: Combining Likert-Scale Preference Statements With Choice Data to Harvest Preference Heterogeneity

67.31), and corresponding median WTP of US

A two-agent dynamic model with an invasive weed diffusion externality: an application to Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L.) in New Mexico.

37.76 (US