This paper explores Heiner's hypothesis concerning a gap between the cognitive ability of decision makers and the difficulty of decisions (the C-D gap). We discuss the implications of decision heuristics for coefficient estimates when uncertainty is faced by decision makers, where the level of...

This study reports on a survey assessment of the public preferences for the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station's research program. The study summarizes preferences to allocate effort to alternative research projects and estimates the public's willingness to pay to maintain or increase...

Despite prior studies examining willingness to pay for farmland preservation there has been no quantitative, systematic analysis of findings across the literature. This paper presents the first statistical meta-analysis of farmland preservation values. Results confirm systematic variations in...

Choice experiments are designed to account for variations in environmental resources and site characteristics, as well as potential implications of these variations for willingness to pay. This may render choice experiment results highly suitable for benefits transfer. It is unclear, however,...

This paper explores the extent to which preference asymmetries occur in Likert-scale indicators of support or opposition to rural land use policies, and implications for methods used to model policy support. Data are drawn from responses to the Rhode Island Rural Land Use Survey.

This paper assesses the potential for function based benefit transfer to inform farmland preservation policy, with emphasis on distinctions between welfare estimation and policy prioritization. Data are drawn from a parallel choice experiments implemented in six communities and statewide in...

In stated preference assessments of farmland preservation programs, respondents are often told that preservation will occur within a given scale-e.g., community, state, county-but do not know the specific location of parcels in question. Hence, welfare estimates may be available for different...

Newer residents of rural, urban-fringe communities are often assumed to have preferences for the development and conservation of rural lands that differ from those of longer-term residents. The existing literature offers little to verify or quantify presumed preference shifts. This paper...

Economists frequently assess willingness to pay (WTP) for land preservation outcomes independent of information regarding policy implementation. The public, however, may not only be concerned with the consequences of land management, but also may have systematic preferences for policy procedures...