AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 1 AGEC 608: Lecture 13 Objective: Discuss various ways to estimate value of impacts using revealed preference approaches, highlighting the travel cost model Readings: –Boardman, Chapter 13 Homework #4: Chapter 7, problem 3 Chapter 10, problems due: next class Homework #5: Chapter 13, problem 3 more T.B.A. due: April 24

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 2 Indirect estimation of demand Main idea is to estimate “shadow prices” of goods based on observed behavior, when the market for the primary good does not exist. Six main methods: 1.Market analogy method 2.Intermediate good method 3.Asset valuation method 4.Hedonic price method 5.Travel cost method 6.Defensive expenditure method

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p Market analogy method Idea: use price or expenditure of an analogous good private good to value a public good Example: use price or expenditure on private housing as proxy for value of public housing Drawbacks: WTP > value of public good price of private good > WTP for public good

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p Intermediate good method Approach: project produces intermediate good that is not sold in a market (e.g. job training) Impute the value provided to the “downstream” activity as: annual benefit = NI(with project) – NI (without) examples: wages with and without training agriculture with and without irrigation

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p Asset valuation method Approach: look at differences in or changes in prices of assets associated with a project Example: value of good public schools = difference between price of housing in districts with and without good public schools (closely related to the hedonic pricing method)

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p Hedonic price method Approach: value attribute or change in attribute when its value is capitalized into the price of an asset (often housing) Example: value of proximity to a school Step 1: regression P = b 0 SQFT b1 CONTYPE b2 DISTANCE b3 e c Value of proximity R = b 3 P/DISTANCE Step 2: relate R to WTP R = W(DISTANCE, Y, Z), where Y = income, Z = hh charac.

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 7 Hedonic wage example Construction work is risky, and the riskiest jobs have wage premia. What if workers are willing to accept a 1/1000 annual risk of death to take a job that pays $1200 more per year? What is the value of one “statistical life”?

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 8 Calculating the hedonic wage Workers are willing to accept a 1/1000 annual risk of death to take a job that pays $1200 more per year. $1,200 * 1000 = $1,200,000 Therefore, 1000 people have a collective willingness to accept $1.2 million to be exposed to the death of one individual.

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p Travel cost method Typically used for valuing recreation sites Approach: assume price “paid” to visit a sight includes time and cost of getting there. Use data on visitation to assign a total value to a sight. Drawbacks: econometric problems

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p Defensive expenditure method Approach: use expenditure that occurs in response to something undesirable as the value of removing the undesirable feature Examples: value of reducing pollution = cost of cleaning windows value of clean water = cost of bottled water Drawbacks: defensive measures tend to underestimate benefits people tend to quickly adjust to undesirable changes

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 11 Travel cost model: example 1 5 locations 1 recreation site {A,B,C,D,E} A B C D E

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 12 Example 1: Visitation data LocationCost# visits A 0 50 B C D E250 0

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 13 Construct a demand curve 50 Travel Cost P = Q 0 Number of visits 0 D 250 C B A E

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p consumer surplus (TB) 50 Travel Cost P = Q 0 Number of visits 25 0 D 250 C B A E Demand curve can be used to find: 2. impact of increased fees

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 15 Example 2: Visitation data LocationCost# visits A 0 50 B C D E250 5

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 16 Example 2: Visitation data Regression model: dependent variable: visits independent variable: price visits = a + b*price visits = – 0.147p (6.42) (3.15) N=5, R 2 =0.77

AGEC 608 Lecture 13, p. 17 Construct a demand curve