Mario F. Teisl

Measuring the Welfare Effects of Nutrition Information

Cost/benefit analysis justifies regulations altering the amount of health-related information presented to consumers. The current method of benefit analysis, the cost of avoided illness, is limited; it assumes the benefits of health-related information are adequately represented by changes in illnesses. The manuscript develops a benefit estimation method to measure the welfare impacts of providing nutrient information. Nutrient labeling significantly affects purchase behaviour but may not lead to increased consumption of health foods. Nutrient labeling may increase welfare without any change in health risk. Thus, the cost of avoided illness approach can underestimate the social benefits of providing nutrient information. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.

Conjoint Analysis of Angler Evaluations of Atlantic Salmon Restoration on the Penobscot River, Maine

Abstract Traditional approaches used to elicit angler opinions about potential fisheries management programs focus on how preferences are affected by changing one attribute at a time. However, management programs may alter several aspects of a fishery simultaneously. With conjoint analysis, we were able to compare angler opinions regarding several potential management programs for the Penobscot River fishery for Atlantic salmon Salmo salar. By dividing our analysis, we compared opinions from four angler groups. We found that angler preferences for management programs seemed primarily driven by the size of the resulting fish stock and less motivated by whether the fishery was natural or hatchery based.