Communities across the globe increasingly confront environmental and natural resource management decisions that require expenditures to protect and conserve ecosystems. These decisions typically require consideration of bio-physical, political, economic, and other factors. Institutional economic...

The long term success of payment for environmental services (PES) schemes depends on adequate demand for services and sustainable financing. We examine the viability of using locally-financed payments to protect watershed services in rural eastern Costa Rica. Using dichotomous choice contingent...

The range of activities for which data are collected in many standard datasets for recreational fishing is limited by the mission of the funding agencies. We use a nested-logit model of recreational fishing to examine how varying the range of fishing alternatives included in the model affects...

This paper estimates beachgoers' preferences for beach quality attributes, including avoidance of current or previous harmful algal blooms (HABs) or bacterial warnings. Following a stratified random sampling schedule, data was collected via intercept interviews conducted at all 28 sandy public...

Researchers using questionnaires to elicit preferences must decide whether to include response options that allow respondents to express "no opinion." Using a split-sample design, we explore the implications of alternative answer formats including and not including no-opinion responses in an...

We conduct a benefit-cost analysis of a relicensing agreement for two hydroelectric dams in Michigan. The agreement changed daily conditions from peaking to run-of-river flows. We consider three categories of costs and benefits: producer costs of adapting electricity production to the new time...