Non-market valuation has become a broadly accepted and widely practiced means of measuring the economic values of the environment and natural resources. In this book, the authors provide a guide to the statistical and econometric practices that economists employ in estimating non-market values. The authors develop the econometric models that underlie the basic methods: contingent valuation, travel cost models, random utility models and hedonic models. They analyze the measurement of non-market values as a procedure with two steps: the estimation of parameters of demand and preference functions and the calculation of benefits from the estimated models. Each of the models is carefully developed from the preference function to the behavioral or response function that researchers observe. The models are then illustrated with datasets that characterize the kinds of data researchers typically deal with. The real world data and clarity of writing in this book will appeal to environmental economists, students, researchers and practitioners in multilateral banks and government agencies.

This book provides a systematic review of those economic approaches for valuing the environment and natural resources that use information on what people do, not what they say. The authors have worked on models of revealed preferences for valuing environmental and natural resources for several decades. The book provides a candid review of the major conceptual challenges and an exploration of neglected issues in the literature.

Environmental quality is one of the most important issues faced by contemporary urban and regional policy. Amenities such as access to the natural environment, attractive neighborhood characteristics and high quality public goods and services play a direct role in determining where people choose to live. Bringing together a team of leading scholars, this book addresses the issues of environmental valuation and how the value placed on environments affect urban and regional policy.

Economic values are increasingly used in policy analysis and legal settings. With the growing recognition that many of the things that benefit or harm people are outside the market system, have come increasing efforts to develop nonmarket valuation techniques. One such technique is the contingent valuation method (CVM). CVM seeks to value environmental and other nonmarket goods and services by asking individuals about their values using survey methods. These procedures are different from the `revealed-preference' methods that economists have historically employed to estimate economic values. Why depart from well-established revealed-preference procedures and apply a `stated-preference' method like CVM? For nonmarket goods and services, revealed-preference methods have two shortcomings that those applying CVM hope to avoid. First, revealed-preference methods involve econometric problems that have yet to be fully overcome. The second shortcoming of revealed-preference methods is that such methods, when applied to environmental amenities, are likely to be only partial measures of value. Given the tremendous interest that exists in economic values and the limitations of revealed-preference methods, it is not surprising that interest in CVM has grown rapidly. Environmental Resource Valuation reviews the application of CVM and compares American experiences in nonmarket evaluation with those in other countries.

This book is about understanding the value of environmental services in South Asia. It provides an overview of different environmental problems in South Asia and examines how economic valuation techniques can be used to assess these problems. It brings together multiple case studies on valuation undertaken by economists and environmental scientists from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka under the aegis of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE). The book addresses the challenges of valuing environmental changes that are unique to developing countries. Each chapter starts with a description of an environmental problem and the valuation strategy used, followed by a discussion of estimation methods and results. It is designed to serve as a reference book for students, teachers, researchers, non-government organizations and practitioners of environmental valuation. Those interested in development and environmental economics, and natural resource management policies, will also find it useful.

The book is meant to improve our understanding of sustainable development of production and consumption. Monetary values of the impact of emission and resources are determined, and used in environmental management, with a focus on sustainability. Values related to cultural context are not possible to predict, therefore ignored. The book only focuses on environmental goods and services that are used to satisfy basic human needs. One of the benefits of monetary valuation is its holistic approach. The impact of any contributing factor on the total value, can be determined, and the sensitivity to uncertainty in inputs can be estimated. This is useful in developing knowledge, where it is most needed. In a society, there are many economic units which need to function in tandem to support human welfare. Each unit has its own system boundary in what it includes and covers in time and space. The system boundary of a sustainable unit is likely to be very long and wide. This book provides data on long term monetary values of environmental impacts from human activities. It discusses the choice of system boundaries, and how to use monetary values in sustainable development. A large part of the book describes impact models in terms of the relation between emissions and natural goods and services.