Choice Modelling and the Transfer of Environmental Values

by John Rolfe (Editor)

Benefit transfer is the practice of estimating economic values at a target site by utilising the results of existing studies for different sites. It is commonly used to estimate values for changes in environmental conditions where time and cost factors constrain the direct application of non-market valuation techniques at the target site. The focus of this unique collection of case studies is the validity and accuracy of benefit transfer using choice modelling, rather than the traditional focus of transferring results from contingent valuation and travel cost models. The book includes a simple guide to using choice modelling results in a benefit transfer process, an overview of the theoretical issues involved, and a number of case studies from Australia, Finland, New Zealand, the UK and the US. The conclusion is that the benefit transfer process is not straightforward, but that use of the choice modelling technique allows for more 'automatic' adjustment of values by the factors that frame the case study of interest. This book will strongly appeal to a wide ranging readership, including academics, students and researchers involved in non-market valuation and benefit transfer research, policymakers requiring the use of benefit transfer in valuation studies, and consultants and researchers performing benefit transfer studies.

Hardcover

Published July 25, 2006

About the author

John Rolfe graduated from Virginia Tech, The University of Florida, and Wharton Business School. At Wharton, he was the editor of the Wharton Vulgarian. Following his sentence with DLJ, he spent several years working at a private investment fund. In 2001, he co-founded an equity-oriented money management firm, and today manages the firm from a top secret location deep in Vermont. He lives with his wife and two children, and is currently attempting to learn how to produce maple syrup.