Hot off the presses! Jan 01 Land Econ

The Jan 01 issue of the Land Econ is now up on Pubget (About Land Econ): if you're at a subscribing institution, just click the link in the latest link at the home page. (Note you'll only be able to get all the PDFs in the issue if your institution subscribes to Pubget.)

Latest Articles Include:

• Willingness to Pay for Land Preservation across States and Jurisdictional Scale: Implications for Benefit Transfer
  - Land Econ 85(2):217-237 (2009)
  In stated preference valuation of farmland preservation, respondents are often told that preservation will occur within various jurisdictional scales--that is, community or state--but are not told the specific location of parcels. The resultant availability of welfare estimates for different scales and regions provides numerous avenues for benefit transfer. This paper provides a systematic assessment of transfer error, contrasting different methods for the transfer of farmland preservation values across states and jurisdictional scales. Results drawn from multistate choice experiments suggest that the choice of across scale versus across state transfer method can have significant implications for transfer validity. (JEL Q24, Q51)
• Spatial Downscaling of Agricultural Land-Use Data: An Econometric Approach Using Cross Entropy
  - Land Econ 85(2):238-251 (2009)
  We propose a spatial disaggregation tool to help researchers make the best use of aggregated data in studies of land use. The proposed approach uses parcel-level agricultural data in conjunction with biophysical processes to break down agricultural regional data to the pixel level. It is a two-step procedure. First, we estimate a land-use model using a multinomial logit model. Second, we disaggregate the observed regional data using a generalized cross-entropy approach, taking the first-step predictions as priors. This procedure is applied to the French Picardie region. Results indicate a significant correlation between observed and estimated land-use shares. (JEL C11, C81, Q12, R14)
• Effect of Urban Proximity on Agricultural Land Values
  - Land Econ 85(2):252-264 (2009)
  This article seeks to more accurately estimate the size and distance of the effect of urban proximity on agricultural land values. The econometric model lets the size and distance of the effect of urban proximity on agricultural land values vary by population, real income, and time. The changes in the effect of urban proximity over time can be largely explained by population and income. Thus, there does not appear to be a shift in preferences toward living further from the city center. (JEL Q15, R14)
• Bounded Rationality, Climate Risks, and Insurance: Is There a Market for Natural Disasters?
  - Land Econ 85(2):265-278 (2009)
  This paper examines the role of insurances to reduce uncertainty associated with climate change losses for individuals. Of special interest is the value individuals place on the reduction of increased flood risks by insurance coverage. Using rank-dependent utility and prospect theories, risk premiums are estimated under different climate change scenarios for the Netherlands. The study delivers two main insights. First, estimation results suggest that a profitable flood insurance market could be feasible. Second, climate change has the potential to increase the profitability of offering flood insurance. (JEL D81, Q51, Q54)
• Resource Rent in Individual Quota Fisheries
  - Land Econ 85(2):279-291 (2009)
  Traditional fisheries management schemes generate incentives for vessels to maximize catch, resulting in rent dissipation and overcapacity. Individual vessel quota management schemes change the incentives to maximize profit and have the potential to generate resource rent and reduce capacity. An interesting question is whether it is the changed incentives due to individual quota or the capacity reduction due to transferability of individual quota that is most important in generating rent. In this study, a cost function approach is used to model and measure rent generated and potential rent in a fishery managed with individual vessel quotas. (JEL C30, Q22)
• Tenure Security, Resource Endowments, and Tree Growing: Evidence from the Amhara Region of Ethiopia
  - Land Econ 85(2):292-307 (2009)
  We analyze roles of tenure insecurity and household endowments in explaining tree growing in Ethiopia, where farmers cannot sell or mortgage land and factor markets are imperfect. Unlike most other studies, we use panel data and examine determinants of the decision and intensity of tree growing. Unlike other studies, we compare the decision to keep trees and the decision to plant in the recent past. The results suggest that land-tenure insecurity influences the decision to grow trees but not the number of trees households grow. Household endowments, time, and location also explain tree growing by farmers. (JEL Q15, Q23)
• Modeling Shifts in Willingness to Pay from a Bayesian Updating Perspective
  - Land Econ 85(2):308-328 (2009)
  This paper derives a structural shift empirical specification for a double-bound dichotomous choice contingent valuation methodology premised upon willingness-to-pay (WTP) shifts ensuing from a representative model of respondent Bayesian updating behavior. We demonstrate by way of data simulations that a traditional structural shift specification may often fail at estimating true WTP in this context. Further simulations demonstrate that a simple extension of the traditional structural shift model derived explicitly from our Bayesian framework can correct for much of the WTP bias, with an empirical application confirming the simulation outcomes. Finally, we investigate the relationship between strategic behavior and WTP shifts. (JEL Q26, Q50, Q51)
• How Deliberation Affects Stated Willingness to Pay for Mitigation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions: An Experiment
  - Land Econ 85(2):329-347 (2009)
  Respondents reported willingness to pay (WTP) for mitigating carbon dioxide emissions after structured group discussion or without this deliberation. Deliberation did not affect mean or median WTP, but it increased the number of issues respondents considered, with some issues becoming more frequently considered and others less. Survey-only respondents considered issues relevant for responding to a request for a charitable contribution; group-mode participants considered issues relevant for a public policy assessment. Findings suggest that ordinary citizens can offer valid input to environmental policy decisions, but that framing effects in ordinary WTP surveys may prevent them from providing such input. (JEL Q51, Q54)
• Split-Sample Tests of "No Opinion" Responses in an Attribute-Based Choice Model
  - Land Econ 85(2):348-362 (2009)
  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 attribute-based choice experiment. The results indicate that using multiple no-opinion responses may enable researchers to differentiate between respondents who choose no-opinion options due to satisficing and those expressing utility indifference. Existing literature suggests no-opinion responses may be treated as "no," but our results show treating no-opinion responses as "no" can yield substantially disparate preference estimates. (JEL C25, Q24, Q25, Q51)
• The Ill Effects of Public Sector Corruption in the Water and Sanitation Sector
  - Land Econ 85(2):363-377 (2009)
  In general, given a particular set of institutions, the greater a county's per capita income, the more extensive will be its provision of goods and services that require concerted public action. We contend that one of the most important aspects of institutions in this regard is public sector corruption. We test this contention by analyzing 85 countries observed in 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2004--the only years for which data on improved drinking water and adequate sanitation are available. The models point to statistically significant, negative relations between corruption and access to both improved drinking water and adequate sanitation. (JEL D31, H41, P16)
• Improving Utilization of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Resource: An Analysis of Rotational Management of Fishing Grounds: Comment
  - Land Econ 85(2):378-382 (2009)
  Valderrama and Anderson (2007) presented an analysis of rotational fishing for sea scallops which unrealistically assumed high fixed price premiums for large sea scallops independent of their supply, and atypical initial conditions. These assumptions distort their results, leading them to suggest greater benefits for rotation than actually exist. This analysis was then used to criticize one aspect of current U.S. sea scallop management policy. However, their discussion ignores bycatch and possible habitat damage from scallop fishing. Including bycatch as external costs reduces the optimal fishing effort level from that which would otherwise be calculated. Finally, a number of practical difficulties in applying formal optimization to fishery management are discussed. (JEL Q22)