Tongzhe Li

Consumer Preferences for Second-Generation Bioethanol

In this study, we investigate the consumer response toward fuel from second-generation, nature-inspired lignocellulose processing systems. We conduct consumer surveys with two different information treatments. We utilize a dichotomous-choice contingent valuation methodology to estimate willingness to pay for this product and analyze factors that affect consumer choice. The results suggest that the average respondent is willing to purchase second-generation bioethanol with a 4% discount compared to conventional fuel. Some demographic variables and driving behavior are found to have significant effects on consumer willingness to pay. The effect of information regarding the second-generation, nature-inspired lignocellulose process is found to be insignificant.

Heterogeneous Preferences for Oysters: Evidence from Field Experiments

This study uses field experiments to investigate consumer preferences for oysters. In total, 486 adult participants completed a series of revealed-preference dichotomous-choice tasks and a demographic survey. Using a random effects logit model, we investigate factors that influence participants’ decisions to purchase oysters. As expected, price had a significant negative effect, while income had a positive effect. Older individuals and those who were relatively selective regarding shell color or smell are less likely to buy oysters, but consumers who valued size, oyster species, and harvest location were willing to pay more.

Tourist Viewshed Externalities and Wind Energy Production

This study uses an experiment where ferry passengers are sold hotel room “views” to evaluate the impact of wind turbines views on tourists’ vacation experience. Participants purchase a chance for a weekend hotel stay. Information about the hotel rooms was limited to the quality of the hotel and its distance from a large wind turbine, as well as whether or not a particular room would have a view of the turbine. While there was generally a negative effect of turbine views, this did not hold across all participants, and did not seem to be effected by distance or hotel quality.

The Effect of Information on Discriminatory-Price and Uniform-Price Reverse Auction Efficiency: An Experimental Economics Study of the Purchase of Ecosystem Services

This study compares the fiscal efficiency of two types of reverse auctions, uniform-price and discriminatory-price, for the purchase of ecosystem services (PES) under different structures of information. Public agencies that conduct reverse PES auctions traditionally provide public information such as the budget and the accepted bids in past rounds. The experimental results from 180 participants suggest that providing varying levels of public information affects both seller behavior and auction efficiency, as measured by the limitation of rents. In this controlled setting, the most efficient auction is found to be a discriminatory-price auction with partial information. This auction produced efficiency gains of 7% of the experimental conservation budget and roughly 25% lower rents than the other auction-information treatments.

Promoting Residential Recycling: An Alternative Policy Based on a Recycling Reward System

This paper analyzes a reward system that uses a club good to promote recycling. In particular, we examine a context of incomplete information in which the administrator is unable to observe the resident’s attitude towards recycling. The results suggest that despite the lack of information, the administrator is able to induce all types of residents to recycle when the reward is sufficiently high. Furthermore, we show that education programs, technologies that help to reduce the residential recycling cost and penalties for garbage dumping are complementary tools that could also promote recycling.

Financial crises, Asian stock indices, and current accounts: An Asian-U.S. comparative study

Abstract This paper investigates the effects of financial crises-based exchange rate, real interest rate, and personal consumption expenditure on stock market indices and balances of current account in four Asian countries/areas, and the U.S. from 1997 to 2010. Results obtained from Simss first-order DSGE representation suggest that two policy variables – changes in the exchange rate and changes in the real interest rate lagged by one quarter – act as stabilizers for contemporaneous changes in stock indices for Thailand, Malaysia, and the U.S., but as destabilizers for Taiwan and Hong Kong. However, changes in personal consumption expenditure lagged by one quarter only play a destabilizing role in Hong Kong. For contemporaneous changes in the current account balance, all three policy variables become destabilizers for all five countries except the one-quarter lagged change in real interest rate, which acts as a stabilizer in Malaysia.