Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services (PES) programs are gaining appeal as flexible approaches to inducing the voluntary provision of ecosystem services (ES). Farmers, who manage agricultural ecosystems, provide important nonmarket ecosystem services to the public by their choice of production inputs...

The manner in which WTP survey responses are elicited has received much attention in the nonmarket valuation literature because of the potential bias that may be introduced via alternate response formats. One issue of particular concern is that of incentive compatibility. Several studies have...

Stated choice experiments about ecosystem changes involve complex information. Thisstudy examines whether the format in which ecosystem information is presented torespondents affects stated choice outcomes. Our analysis develops a utility-maximizingmodel to describe respondent behavior. The...

We use a nested-logit model of recreational fishing to examine how varying the range of fishing activities included in the choice set affects welfare measures. The basic analytical results are quite intuitive: welfare calculations with a site-choice travel cost model that omits relevant...

This paper examines the effects of compliance with developed country pesticide standards (DC-PS) on pesticide-related health costs and morbidity of developing country fresh vegetable growers. DC-PS require that farmers i) only use approved pesticides (usually less toxic to humans than ones used...

This study explores how human capital affects farm household earnings using two tools to refine measurement of human capital effects. First, it employs a two-sector model to allow the allocation of family labor between farm and non-farm activities. Second, it accounts for village fixed effects...

The control of pests by their natural enemies represents an important ecosystem service that maintains the stability of agroecosystems and has the potential to mitigate pest control costs both to private producers and to society. Extending the “"economic threshold”" concept, this paper...

In response to stagnating yields and mounting pest problems, Michigan potato growers are investigating ways to bring manure and cover crops back into potato production systems. The alternative systems bring benefits and costs for monetary net returns, the variability of net returns, and...

This paper reviews the literature assessing the economic impacts of integrated pest management (IPM). Definitions of IPM are categorized as input- or outcome-oriented, and an outcome- oriented definition is recommended for public program assessment. The literature on economic impact assessment...

Data on agricultural and natural resource management typically have spatial patterns related to the landscapes from which they came. Consequently, econometric models designed to explain the determinants of humans' natural resource management practices or their outcomes often have spatial...