We study the impact of endowments and expectations on reference point formation and measure the value of food safety certification in the context of fish trading on real markets in Nigeria. In our field experiment, consumers can trade a known food item for a novel food item that is superior in terms of food safety––or vice versa. Endowments matter for reference point formation, but we also document a reverse endowment effect for a subsample of respondents. The effect of expectations about future ownership is weak and mixed. While expectations seem to affect bidding behavior for subjects “trading up” to obtain the certified food product (a marginally significant effect), it does not affect bids for subjects “trading down” to give up this novel food item. Finally, willingness to pay for safety certified food is large for our respondents—our estimate of the premium is bounded between 37 and 53% of the price of conventional, uncertified food.

Asthma is a non-communicable and non-curable lung disease that affects 10% of children and 4% of adults worldwide and is associated with an array of environmental contaminants and chemicals. This article offers values suitable for use in cost–benefit analyses of the willingness to pay (WTP) for reduced severity of asthma in adults and children and in reduced probability of getting asthma for these two population groups, all in the context of reducing chemical exposures. To this end, an online survey was administered between November 2021 and May 2022 to 12 727 respondents from seven countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This article applies two stated preference methods for eliciting WTP: the contingent valuation method for reduced asthma severity and choice experiments for reduced probability of getting asthma of various severities. The context for such elicitations was a set of household products that contain fewer hazardous chemicals than what is currently available in supermarkets but are more expensive. The study finds that the WTP for reducing asthma severity in adults by one step, e.g. from “moderate plus” to “moderate”, is USD2022 529 per year on average. The parental WTP for reducing asthma severity in their children is USD2022 PPP 948 per year and is on average 1.8 times higher than their WTP for themselves. The mean value of a statistical case (VSC) of adult asthma which would be applied to predictions of new cases of asthma avoided by a regulation equals USD2022 280 000, while the mean VSC of childhood asthma equals USD2022 430 000.

There is growing evidence to suggest that there is an increase in species extinction occurring globally. In this article, we briefly review the literature on the economics of species extinction, examining what is meant by extinction before explaining how economics has conceptualised this. The initial economics literature on species extinction focuses largely on renewable resources, in particular fisheries, but has subsequently evolved to cover many aspects of biodiversity across all physical scales, employing an increasing array of methodological tools. We also consider aspects of cultural and societal extinctions (e.g. local languages, local knowledge) and how this is positively correlated with loss of biodiversity, as well as an economist’s outlook on the potential to re-capture value post-extinction.

In addition to effects from greenhouse gases, climate change is affected by short-lived climate forcers (SLCF). These are often co-emitted with carbon dioxide, and some are regulated air pollutants. In the governance of these pollutants, established estimates of damage costs of pollution inform benefit–cost analyses. However, climate change impact of SLCFs is omitted from these estimates. The purpose of this study is to calculate economic damage costs of air pollutants’ effect on climate change and compare these with established damage costs. Focus is on European emissions governed in the EU National Emission Reduction Commitments Directive during 2020–2050. We use well-known SLCF emission metrics and multiply with literature values on social costs of methane to calculate climate damage costs of SLCFs. The results indicate that average absolute climate damage costs are highest for black carbon ($59,500/ton in 2050) and lowest for nonmethane volatile organic compounds ($661/ton). Our indicative values are likely underestimations. Indicative climate damage costs are usually lower than established damage costs, with notable exceptions. We propose that more detailed studies are necessary, and that inclusion of climate damage costs into economic valuation of SLCFs is important for future air pollution and climate benefit–cost analyses.

Applying the difference-in-difference (DID) estimation procedure, this study quantifies the wheat blast (Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum) induced losses in wheat yield, quantity of wheat sold, consumed, or stored, as well as wheat grain value in Bangladesh in 2016 following a disease outbreak that affected over 15,000 ha. Estimates show that the blast-induced yield loss was 540 kg ha−1 on average for households in blast-affected districts. Estimated total wheat production loss was approximately 8,205 tons worth USD 2.1 million in during the 2016 outbreak. Based on these insights, we discuss the need for long-term assured investment and concerted research efforts in controlling transboundary diseases such as wheat blast, including the importance of weather forecast driven early warning systems and the dissemination of blast-resistant varieties.

Animal welfare presents particular policy challenges. Good welfare provides private productivity benefits to producers and some level of positive external benefit to people who care about animal welfare status. But markets for welfare fail, meaning that private producers are unlikely to provide the correct level of external benefit and social welfare will not be maximised. Accordingly, there is a rationale for government to be involved in the provision of animal welfare. The public good nature of animal welfare supply presents policy challenges for government regulators. Specifically, in setting regulatory targets, Defra, as the regulator, aims to maximise social welfare by designing regulation that delivers benefits that are at least equal to regulatory costs at the margin. This means that regulatory targets must be informed by some assessment of benefits of welfare policies. This paper considers this problem in the context of the proposed EU Directive on broiler welfare. The paper describes the application of the contingent valuation method to measure the economic benefits of broiler welfare, and considers how the results inform welfare target setting.

Using a production function approach, we estimate that the economic value of biotic pollination to Georgia’s agriculture increased from $425 million in 2009 to $488 million in 2017 in real terms. We perform spatial analysis to reveal county-level spatial patterns and temporal trends in that value. Using a unique set of pollinator survey data, we also compare the locations of biotic pollinators to the areas they bring the most economic value to, which provides insights on the variation in the dependency of the crop mix to pollination services.

Economic experiments have been widely used to elicit individuals' evaluation for various commodities. Common elicitation methods include auction and posted price mechanisms. A field experiment is designed to compare willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates between these two mechanisms. Despite both of these formats being theoretically incentive compatible and demand revealing, results from 115 adult consumers indicate that WTP estimates obtained from an auction are 32–39 percent smaller than those from a posted price mechanism. A comparison in statistical significance shows that auctions require a smaller sample size than posted price mechanisms in order to detect the same preference change. Nevertheless, the signs of marginal effects for different product characteristics are consistent in both mechanisms.

The Vulnerable snow leopard Panthera uncia experiences persecution across its habitat in Central Asia, particularly from herders because of livestock losses. Given the popularity of snow leopards worldwide, transferring some of the value attributed by the international community to these predators may secure funds and support for their conservation. We administered contingent valuation surveys to 406 international visitors to the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal, between May and June 2014, to determine their willingness to pay a fee to support the implementation of a Snow Leopard Conservation Action Plan. Of the 49% of visitors who stated they would pay a snow leopard conservation fee in addition to the existing entry fee, the mean amount that they were willing to pay was USD 59 per trip. The logit regression model showed that the bid amount, the level of support for implementing the Action Plan, and the number of days spent in the Conservation Area were significant predictors of visitors’ willingness to pay. The main reasons stated by visitors for their willingness to pay were a desire to protect the environment and an affordable fee. A major reason for visitors’ unwillingness to pay was that the proposed conservation fee was too expensive for them. This study represents the first application of economic valuation to snow leopards, and is relevant to the conservation of threatened species in the Annapurna Conservation Area and elsewhere.

In this paper, we review changes in the insurance industry due to new risk-based regulations such as Solvency 2 and Swiss Solvency Test. The move from corporate management based on cash-flow to risk-based management is described and discussed through its consequences on capital management, economic valuation and the internal model. We discuss the limits and difficulties of enterprise risk management and its effect on the organisation of companies and the role of actuaries in insurance. The risk/return relation is becoming a central element of the company’s management slowly supplanting the traditional accounting view.

Despite ongoing efforts to motivate politicians and publics in Europe regarding nature conservation, biodiversity continues to decline. Monetary valuation of ecosystem services appears to be insufficient to motivate people, suggesting that non-monetary values have a crucial role to play. There is insufficient information about the motivations of actors who have been instrumental in successful conservation projects. We investigated the motivations underlying these biodiversity actors using the ranking of cards and compared the results with the rankings of motivations of a second group of actors with more socially related interests. For both groups of actors, their action relating to biodiversity was supported in general by two groups of motivations related to living a meaningful life and moral values. The non-biodiversity actors also noted that their action relating to biodiversity rested more on beauty, place attachment and intrinsic values in comparison with their main non-biodiversity interests. Our results have implications for environmental policy and biodiversity conservation in that the current tendency of focusing on the economic valuation of biodiversity fails to address the motivations of successful actors, thereby failing to motivate nature conservation on an individual level.

Most of Southern California's wetlands have disappeared despite being critical ecosystems with many valuable attributes. Many of the wetlands that remain are in relatively urban areas, are severely degraded, and may not function properly. Using hedonic spatial error models, we measure the economic value of living near an urban multi-use wetland in Long Beach, California. Both sales prices and estimated values are used in the analysis. Results show that proximity to wetlands increases residential property values in the focus area. This analysis provides important information for policymakers to justify ongoing restoration projects and prevent further degradation of urbanized natural resources.

A method of paired comparison is adapted for use in estimating economic measures of value. The method elicits multiple binary choices for paired items in a choice set. Probability distributions and economic values are estimated nonparametrically and parametri-cally. The method is applied in an experimental context with a choice set composed of four private goods and several sums of money. The sample's median value estimates for the goods are generally not different than the market prices for these goods. People who are in the market for a good value it higher than those not in the market for the good.

We explore the potential for payments for ecosystem services (PES) to reconcile conservation and development goals, using a case study of an experimental PES intervention around the Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. The scheme involves the purchase of biodiversity conservation services from local communities in four selected locations. Although a portion of the payment is awarded at the household level, it is the collective action of the community that determines the level of the payment. Contracts are negotiated annually and include performance indicators within each participating community. We examine the ability of PES to achieve conservation and development objectives, through three sub-questions: Is the PES scheme effective? Is it legitimate and fair? Is it equitable? Our findings indicate that the relationship between these evaluation criteria is complex, with both trade-offs and synergies. In this case study the effectiveness of PES is dependent on the equitable distribution of the payment, participants’ belief and acceptance of the service being paid for, institutional histories that aid in the establishment of legitimacy and fairness, and the complementary nature of PES to more conventional enforcement methods.

Increasing demand for cooking oil and biofuels has made palm oil, > 80% of which is grown in South-east Asia, the dominant globally traded vegetable oil. However, this region is host to some of the world’s most biodiverse and threatened tropical forests. Strategic engagement with commercial operations is increasingly recognized to be an essential part of the solution for raising funds for conservation initiatives, raising consumer consciousness and potentially stemming environmental degradation. Linking market incentives towards conservation is also of critical importance because it is becoming widely recognized that conservation needs to begin to address the wider countryside (outside protected areas) where human–wildlife interactions are frequent and impacts are large. Using the Sumatran tiger Panthera tigris sumatrae as both a threatened species in its own right and emblematic for wider species diversity, we show that western consumers are willing to pay a significant premium for products using palm oil grown in a manner that reduces impacts on such species. Results suggest that the price premium associated with a ‘tiger-friendly’ accreditation may provide a useful additional tool to raise conservation funds and, within the right institutional context, serve as an inducement to address the problem of habitat and species loss.

The ecosystem services provided by mangroves are often ignored in the ongoing process of mangrove conversion. Services provided by the Bhitarkanika mangrove ecosystem in India and estimated cyclone damage avoided in three selected villages, taking the cyclone of 1999 as a reference point, were valued by assessing the socio-economic status of the villages, the cyclone damage to houses, livestock, fisheries, trees and other assets owned by the people, and the level and duration of flooding. Eleven variables were used to compare damage in the villages, one protected by mangroves, one unprotected by mangroves, and the third possessing an embankment on its seaward side. Attitude surveys were carried out in 10% of the households in 35 villages located in the Bhitarkanika Conservation Area to assess local people's perceptions regarding the storm protection function of mangroves and their attitude towards mangrove forests generally. In the mangrove-protected village, variables had either the lowest values for adverse factors (such as damage to houses), or the highest values for positive factors (such as crop yield). The loss incurred per household was greatest (US$ 153.74) in the village that was not sheltered by mangroves but had an embankment, followed by the village that was neither in the shadow of mangroves or the embankment (US$ 44.02) and the village that was protected by mangrove forests (US$ 33.31). The local people were aware of and appreciated the functions performed by the mangrove forests in protecting their lives and property from cyclones, and were willing to cooperate with the forest department in mangrove restoration.