John R. McKean

Benefit transfer of outdoor recreation demand studies, 1968–1988

The accumulation of studies on outdoor recreation demand creates an opportunity to apply the growing science of reviewing research for purposes of benefit transfer. The process involves developing an understanding of the variables that explain the observed difference in estimates. This paper illustrates how the results of previous studies could be adjusted to develop some tentative estimates of nonmarket values for future policy analysis. Also, the evaluation of some potentially important variables should help improve statistical analysis and the allocation of resources to new studies. The challenge is to build each subsequent work on the knowledge gained from previous ones. In this experimental phase, there is a need to examine additional variables that might conceivably be more important than those considered in the past.

The Consumptive Value Of Travel Time On Recreation Trips

The purpose of this article is to develop and apply a statistical procedure to estimate a demand function for the recreation activity of pleasure driving or sightseeing by car on scenic river highways in the Rocky Mountains. The consumptive value of travel time is related to several variables which can be influenced bypromotional and service programs to improve quality of the driving experience. The article presents new information on demand and benefit to assist the travel industry in the evaluation of programs to expand and enhance Americas scenic road system.

Alternate Price Specifications for Estimating Residential Water Demand with Fixed Fees

Using a new model formulation and data from a sample of Colorado utilities, we investigated the price specification controversy (marginal price versus average revenue) when estimating residential water demand. The improved statistical fit using average revenue as the price variable was shown to be an artifact of the unitary elastic identity created when monthly rate schedules contain a fixed fee. When the fixed fee was purged from the data, average price was not significant, but marginal price remained significant. In the preferred double-log marginal price model, estimated price elasticity was –0.3, and conservation programs had no significant effect on water use. (JEL Q25)

Willingness to pay for non angler recreation at the lower Snake River reservoirs

This study applied the travel cost method to estimate demand for non angler recreation at the impounded Snake River in eastern Washington. Net value per person per recreation trip is estimated for the full non angler sample and separately for camping, boating, water-skiing, and swimming/picnicking. Certain recreation activities would be reduced or eliminated and new activities would be added if the dams were breached to protect endangered salmon and steelhead. The effect of breaching on non angling benefits was found by subtracting our benefits estimate from the projected non angling benefits with breaching. Major issues in demand model specification and definition of the price variables are discussed. The estimation method selected was truncated negative binomial regression with adjustment for self selection bias.

Closely Related Good Prices in the Travel Cost Model

This travel cost demand study included prices for closely related goods such as money and time costs of on-site time, on-site purchases, and other trip activities. A disequilibrium labor market model was estimated. The sample was mainly composed of persons who did not substitute earned income for leisure time. The few persons who had the capability to substitute time for money were excluded from the sample. Consumer surplus was estimated to be

Comparable estimates of the recreational value of rivers

69 per trip using the expanded model. A model using only the conventional travel cost variables resulted in estimated surplus per trip of

An Industry Approach to Owner-Manager Control and Profit Performance

45. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.

Sensitivity of the Pakistan Economy to Changes in Import Prices and Profits, Taxes or Subsidies

The contingent valuation method (CVM) and travel cost method (TCM), recommended by the federal guidelines, are applied to the problem of estimating recreational benefits in a case study of rivers in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The primary purpose is to assess the validity of the behavioral intentions reported in CVM surveys compared to actual behavior-based TCM analysis. Comparison of the two approaches has been limited by potential measurement problems including variation in the valuation question and model specification. This study evaluates CVM questions asking for both trip and annual values, versus TCM models of the number of trips per participant with and without adjustment for the probability of participation. Based on this case study, we cannot reject the hypothesis that recreation benefits estimated by the alternative methods are equal. Apparently, the ordinary CVM and individual TCM can provide as useful an approximation of the recreational economic welfare effects of river protection as the alternative procedures.

Comparing long-run forecasts of demand for fish and wildlife recreation.

Several recent articles have dealt empirically with the separation of ownership and control and its ultimate effect on corporate performance (Kamerschen 1968; Monsen, Chiu, and Cooley 1968 [hereafter MCC]; Larner 1970; Palmer 1973; Sorenson 1974; Holl 1975; and Ware 1975). This separation occurs when a firm is owned by a large number of stockholders with no one individual or group holding a commanding share. Dispersion of shareholding creates a condition wherein a hired manager makes most of the firms decisions. The question of concern involves situations in which an entrepreneur does not combine the functions of ownership and control. Is the microeconomic theory of the firm able to accommodate this tendency? An affirmative answer would require that there be no identifiable economic differences between firms controlled by owners and those controlled by managers. Empirical measurement of the economic behavior and performance of the corporate firm is clearly important, not only for the theorist but also to the shaping of economic policies affecting business and society. Neoclassical economic theory assumes an owner-entrepreneur. If vioAn empirical study of the effects of control type on firm performance. Four measures are considered: return on equity, operating net income to total assets minus cash, net sales to total assets, and net income to net sales. Sample industries are defined at the four-digit SIC level and four firm concentration ratios vary from 17% to 61%. An analysis-of-variance model with one repeated measure and two covariates is used to test for a systematic effect of control type on performance. Each industry is tested separately. Other variables included in the model are leverage (debt/equity), firm size, and time. The F-statistics generated for each industry are correlated against concentration ratio and market-share data to test the hypotheses that market power and concentration affect discretionary power of managers. A previous study by Monsen et al. is reexamined. * The authors wish to thank Professor James S. Williams for his valuable assistance. Any remaining errors are the responsibility of the authors.

Adapting synthesized input‐output models for small natural resource‐based regions: A case study

A revised 1 and condensed Pakistan input–output (I–O) model is used to trace and quantify the inflationary impacts of changes in ‘primary’ input prices on the domestic processing sectors of the Pakistan economy. The I–O model 2 is applied to estimate impacts of changes of primary input prices on a Laspeyres price index of input costs to domestic Pakistan industry. Cost push in ‘primary’input prices can include: new or increased tax rates, changes in the terms of trade and prices on imported goods, duties which raise import costs, or increases in the mark-up or profit rate in various industries.