This study adopts a discrete choice modelling methodology to evaluate individuals' preferences over planning alternatives for an urban site of environmental interest. Since such projects involve some uncertainty and irreversibility, a special attention is devoted to the estimation of the...

This paper investigates the linkages between the environment, income and migration, exploring the role that environmental factors play in inducing migration within a rural developing economy. The environment has a deep economic value, representing a source of living for most developing...

The Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Method can be used either in the single or double bound formulation. The former is easier to implement, while the latter is known to be more efficient. We analyse the bias of the ML estimates produced by either model, and the gain in efficiency...

Respondents of contingent valuation surveys may place a null value on the public good, for reasons that differ from a genuine indifference to the good, but that can be interpreted as a "protest": either against the interview, or the public management, or both. A good survey design can...

We present an empirical estimation of the distribution of WTP for effective speed reduction via implementation of local traffic calming schemes. Random samples are drawn from the populations of households of three villages intersected by main trunk roads with varying through traffic conditions....

When modelling data generated from a discrete choice contingent valuation question, the treatment of zero bids affects the welfare estimates. Zero bids may come from respondents who are not interested in the provision of the public good; alternatively, some zero-bidders may be protesting about...

In this paper we analyse methods which allow us to estimate and identify the sources of censoring in dynamic models. We explicitly take into account the existence of corner solutions by considering a discrete-time-discrete-choice dynamic structural model. The availability of microeconomic...

Selectivity bias caused by protest responses in Contingent Valuation studies can be detected and corrected by means of sample selection models. This paper compares two methods: the Heckman 2-steps method and the full ML, applied to data on forest recreation - where WTP is elicited as a...

This paper provides a comparative analysis of statistical methods to evaluate the consumer perception about the quality of Services of General Interest. The evaluation of the service quality perceived by users is usually based on Customer Satisfaction Survey data and an ex-post evaluation is...

The security of natural gas supply is an important issue for all EU countries due to the region's heavy dependence on imported supply sources and in light of energy demand for gas that is continuously increasing. Discussions have emphasised strategies for securing the supply at the macro level,...