Piet Rietveld

Qualitative multicriteria evaluation for environmental management

One of the main differences among evaluation models is between monetary and non-monetary evaluation. Cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis are well-known examples of a monetary evaluation. In the past decades the degraded state of the natural environment has become a key issue, and it is increasingly taken for granted that environmental and resource problems generally have far-reaching economic and ecological consequences. Economic-environmental evaluation and decision problems are conflictual in nature and, therefore, multicriteria techniques seem to be an appropriate modelling tool. This paper attempts to analyse in a critical way some essential aspects of multicriteria decision methods. In particular, the paper deals with uncertainty and measurement problems in environmental policy analysis, seen from the viewpoint of the measurement level of information (including fuzzy set methods). Particular emphasis will be placed on methods for concerted planning evaluation.

Access to and competition between airports: a case study for the San Francisco Bay area

In this paper (nested) logit models that describe the combined access mode-airport-choice are estimated. A three level nested logit model is rejected. A two level nested logit model with the airport choice at the top level and the access mode choice at the lower level is preferred. From the estimation results, it is concluded that business travelers have a higher value of time than leisure travelers. In the (conditional) access mode choice, leisure travelers have a higher access cost elasticity (in absolute value), while business travelers have a higher access time elasticity (in absolute value). In general, access time is of large importance in the competition between airports in a region.

Price elasticities of demand for passenger air travel: a meta-analysis

This discussion paper resulted in an article in the Journal of Air Transport Management (2002). Volume 8, issue 3, pages 165-175. The demand for air transport is largely determined by the spending capacity of customers. Thispaper aims to offer more insight into the determinants of price elasticities in the aviation sector. Itseeks to identify both common and contrasting factors that influence the price elasticities, on thebasis of a comparative analysis among a large number of empirical studies in this field. By meansof meta-analytical methods the relative importance of several driving forces (e.g., distance, type ofticket, nature of study etc.) is investigated.

THE VALUE OF STATISTICAL LIFE IN ROAD SAFETY: A META-ANALYSIS

Costs of accidents make up an important part of the total external cost of traffic. A substantial proportion of accident costs is related to fatal accidents. In the evaluation of fatal accident costs the availability of an estimate of the economic value of a statistical life is pivotal. We present an overview of the empirical literature on the value of statistical life in road safety (VOSL), and use meta-analysis to determine variables that explain the variation in VOSL estimates reported in the literature. We show that the magnitude of VOSL estimates depends on the value assessment approach (particularly, stated versus revealed preference), and for contingent valuation studies also on the type of payment vehicle and elicitation format. We explain that VOSL estimates cannot simply be averaged over studies. The magnitude of VOSL is intrinsically linked to the initial level of the risk of being caught up in a fatal traffic accident and to the risk decline implied by the research set-up.

Relative efficiency of European airports

Using data envelopment analysis, efficiency ratios for European airports are determined. It appears that most airports are operating under increasing returns to scale. This is also reflected in the most productive scale size determined for the airports.

Coping with unreliability in public transport chains: A case study for Netherlands

Unreliability in public transport means that actual departure and arrival times may deviate from the official timetable. Data on unreliability are usually unimodal. In this article we address unreliability from a multimodal perspective, implying a shift of attention away from the supplier towards the customer. Estimates of unreliability of public transport chains in Netherlands are provided. In addition, customer valuation of unreliability is estimated. We find that the valuation of a certain travel time loss of 1 min is 27 cents, whereas the valuation of a 50% probability of a 2 min delay is 64 cents. This implies a strong attitude of risk aversion towards travel time of passengers. On the basis of these values an evaluation of probability enhancing strategies has been carried out. We conclude that among the most promising means of improving the overall quality of the chains is that travellers use the bicycle as an entrance or exit mode. Other measures which are relatively inexpensive to implement and result in fairly large gains for the average public transport passenger, are an increase in transfer times and a strict constraint on bus drivers to prevent them from departing early.

The social support for policy measures in passenger transport: a statistical analysis for the Netherlands

This paper empirically analyses the social feasibility of a wide range of transport policy measures. After a literature review, some general results of a project on the support for transport policy measures in the Netherlands are discussed. Next, a statistical analysis of opinions of various relevant subgroups of citizens is carried out. It appears that safety problems are considered most important from an individual point of view, while environmental problems are most severe from a social point of view. Measures with small direct effects on the behaviour of respondents are generally regarded as most effective by the respondents. The support for safety measures is highest, while perceived problems and effectiveness as well as personal features also influence the support for policy measures. It is concluded that the social support for transport policy measures and packages can be increased by attending to these underlying factors.

Determinants of the Regional Demand for Higher Education in The Netherlands: A Gravity Model Approach

Sá C., Florax R. J. G. M. and Rietveld P. (2004) Determinants of the regional demand for higher education in The Netherlands: a gravity model approach, Reg. Studies 38, 375–392. Studies on the determinants of the demand for higher education typically emphasize the relevance of socio-economic factors, but leave the spatial dimensions of the prospective students’ university choices largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate the determinants of university entrance for Dutch high school graduates in 2000, and pay particular attention to the attractiveness of the university, both in terms of its accessibility and the educational quality of its programme. We combine cross-section data on the region of origin of the high school graduate and the university destination region for first-year students with regional and university characteristics in a production- constrained gravity model. The main finding of the study is that the behaviour of prospective students is governed by a distance deterrence effect and a downward rent effect, but a positive impact results from regional/urban amenities rather than from the educational quality of the university programmes.

Ordinal data in multicriteria decision making, a stochastic dominance approach to siting nuclear power plants

Abstract This paper addresses decision problems with ordinal data (weights, criterion scores). A random sampling approach is proposed to generate quantitative values which are consistent with the underlying ordinal information. An attractive feature of the approach is that it is applicable with mixed (quantitative/ordinal) data. Another feature is that the approach can be extended to rankings with degrees of difference. The outcome of the approach is a distribution of performance scores. Stochastic dominance concepts are proposed to arrive at a final ranking of alternatives. An application of these procedures is given for a location study of nuclear power plants.

Qualitative discrete multiple criteria choice models in regional planning

Abstract The paper provides a concise review of evaluation methods for decision problems in which qualitative data is involved. Special attention is paid to a new qualitative evaluation method: the regime method. An application of the regime method is given in the field of multiregional conflict analysis.