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Abstract:
The present paper reviews activity in environmental valuation by examining trends in publication rates over the past three decades. It also provides an overview of the demand for environmental valuation by academic markets and by policy markets. The results of this historical analysis suggest that there is not as much use of environmental valuation in policy analysis as could be expected given the academic efforts on this topic. The paper also provides an overview of the future directions that environmental valuation research is likely to take given current research efforts.

Abstract:
We examine the propensity of respondents to choose the status quo (SQ) or current situation alternative as a function of complexity in two separate state-of-the-world choice experiments. Complexity in each choice set was characterized as the number of single and multiple changes in levels of attributes from the current situation and the order of the choice task in the sequence of multiple tasks provided to respondents. We show that increasing complexity leads to increased choice of the SQ and that a respondent’s age and level of education also influenced this choice. We outline the effects of the alternate approaches for incorporating the SQ into welfare measurement. These findings have implications for the design of stated preference experiments, examining passive use values and for empirical analysis leading to welfare measurement.

Abstract:
We consider alternative econometric strategies for addressing serial nonparticipation, that is, repeated choice of the same alternative or same type of alternative across a series of choice occasions, in data typically analyzed within the repeated discrete choice framework. Single and double hurdle variants of the repeated discrete choice model are developed and applied to choice experiment and multisite seasonal recreation demand data. Our results suggest that hurdle models can generate significant improvements in statistical fit and qualitatively different policy implications, particularly in choice experiment applications where the proper treatment of serial nonparticipation is relatively more ambiguous.

Abstract:
There is considerable interest in the effect of labels on food product demand. Labeling statements may convey new information about attributes and place consumers in different choice contexts; consumers' assessment of information in labels may be affected by reference points. We examine labeling context relating to genetically modified (GM) food as a factor in the stochastic component of a random utility model and assess reference points over a set of observable characteristics of consumers. We find that labeling context effects are present, although relatively small, while reference dependence is a very important factor that varies over observable characteristics of the sampled consumers.