Gorm Kipperberg

Interseminar

28th Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

This study explores the concept of choice architecture and attribute translations in high-stake public management. Attribute translations refer to various ways attributes of private and public goods can be described or measured. These translations capture different utility and disutility aspects and assist decision-makers in aligning their preferences with potentially overlooked objectives and personal values. Attribute translations function as cognitive cues or signposts that remind decision-makers of their objectives. However, limited research exists on the prevalence and implications of signpost effects, especially for the public good provision. We present a novel formalized theoretical framework that motivates hypotheses regarding attribute translations as a choice architectural tool on decision-makers’ preferences. Furthermore, we report findings from a large-scale experiment that empirically examines the impact of manipulating the representation of a key contextual attribute. Our analysis demonstrates that attribute translations can activate congruent objectives and lead to predictable shifts in preference expressions. Additionally, individuals with strong pre-existing personal values that align with a specific attribute translation exhibit a more pronounced shift, indicating increased salience and influence of congruent objectives in decision-making. We further find that experimental variation in the presentation of attribute translations have impacts on choice certainty and stochasticity in decision-makers’ choices. These findings highlight the importance of investigating choice architecture and attribute translations to inform crucial public management and policy decisions. However, further research is needed to generalize these effects.

Unveiling the Green Shift - From Preach to Practice

KåKåNomics 2023

KåKåNomics 2023

Wonderful World: Den nordiske festivalen for filosofi & vitenskap

Landsmøte for Besteforeldrenes Klimaaksjon

33rd SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry)

KåKåNomics 2023

SSB - Discussion papers s. 1-38

We conducted the first discrete choice experiment to assess the place attachment concept in the valuation of and response to the place-specific environmental impact from a proposed wind farm in Norway. Place attachment increases required compensation for accepting the wind farm, strengthens resistance, and leads to a higher propensity to systematically choose the status quo option of no wind farm in the discrete choice experiment. This finding suggests that the so-called “not-in-my-backyard” (NIMBY) effect should be recognized as a rational response when people place a high value on local environmental amenities, including place identity and a sense of place.

Prosjektseminar - Arealbruk og velferd i byene og på landsbygda – avveininger mellom miljø, kulturminner og økonomi.

Naturkveld i Stavanger: Hvordan løser vi klimakrisen uten å forverre naturkrisen?

Naturkveld i Stavanger

European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Rimini

Temporal aspects of environmental preferences and values have not yet received the attention the subject deserves within environmental economics, although interest has recently increased. This paper investigates how willingness-to-pay (WTP) values and environmental preferences for protecting the Oslo fjord against oil spills has evolved over a five-year period. For this purpose, data generated by two identical contingent valuation surveys on a high-quality internet panel applied to a population of Norwegian households in 2015 and 2020 are analyzed. The 2020 respondents consisted of both new participants and people who completed the survey in 2015, allowing an empirical strategy that leverages the strengths of both the test-retest and independent samples approaches. This data structure has only been found in two previous papers in the SP literature. Additionally, the size of our test-retest sample is larger than any other papers studying WTP stability over more than 1-2 years. We find a significant increase in mean WTP when comparing full samples of all individuals in both years, while an insignificant decrease is found among the subsample of retesters. Estimated preference functions are temporally stable when controlling for WTP determinants such as recreational activity and attitudes towards oil spill protection and the environment in general. This is evident in full samples and among test-retest respondents. For our third analytical method we decompose observed changes in mean WTP and try to isolate whether they are driven by changes in observable covariates or unobserved preferences. These results indicate that the decrease among test-retest respondents is caused by a negative shift in preferences. We are, however, unable to firmly conclude on causality, as it may be resulting from some unobserved factors not captured by the estimated models. A hypothesis that the circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, though relatively mildly affecting Norway at the time of data collection, were significantly affecting answers in 2020 is discussed and tested with a sensitivity analysis where various pandemic controls are introduced in estimation of WTP. Results of this procedure suggests that the pandemic circumstances likely did cause a negative effect on estimated preference parameters, in both full and test-retest samples

Seminar for Vitenskapsakademiet i Stavanger

Fagseminar for WINDLAND

Forskningsseminar

NEA2022 (Forskermøtet 2022)

Stated preference (SP) discrete choice experiment (DCE) methodology is utilized in environmental valuation, transportation studies, health economics, and marketing research. The ultimate aim of DCE research is to inform high stake decision-making in private and public sectors. However, different SP-DCE designs can yield different empirical results with idiosyncratic implications for policy and stakeholder welfare. With this fundamental premise, we investigate DCE design as choice architecture, a concept from behavioral sciences that refers broadly to the manner choice and preference expression contexts are presented. We first go through relevant taxonomy and relate it to DCE design. Then we classify and analyze previous DCEs in the specific application area of environmental valuation according to this taxonomy. Finally, we formalize a conceptual framework for the design of future DCE studies. Specifically, we suggest that DCE researchers should view themselves as choice architects. This meta-perspective on study design leads to the recommendation of including experimental variation in the experimental design instead of pursuing the elusive conventional notion of superior design.

Klima, ressurs, energi, og miljø (KREM)

Medieseminar for journalister fra Aftenposten

NORBRA2025 One Health School

EAERE2022

Campus VGS Besøk

WEAI VIRTUAL 96TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

26th Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

SSB - Discussion papers

Sensitivity to scope in nonmarket valuation refers to the property that people are willing to pay more for a higher quality or quantity of a nonmarket public good. Establishing significant scope sensitivity has been an important check of validity and a point of contention for decades in stated preference (SP) research, primarily on contingent valuation. Recently, researchers have begun to differentiate between statistical and economic significance. This paper contributes to this line of research by studying the significance of scope effects in discrete choice experiments (DCE) using the scope elasticity of willingness-to-pay (WTP) concept. We first formalize the scope elasticity concept in a DCE context and relate it to economic significance. Next, we review a selection of DCE studies from different fields and derive their implied scope elasticity estimates. We observe that scope tests as validity checks are uncommon in the DCE literature. Most studies assume unitary elastic scope sensitivities by employing linear functional forms, and when more flexible specifications are employed, the tendency is towards inelastic scope sensitivity. Then, we apply the scope elasticity concept to primary DCE data on people’s preference for expanding the production of renewable energy in Norway. We find that all scope elasticity estimates are statistically significant and vary between 0.18 and 0.46, depending on attribute analyzed, model specification, geographic subsample, and unit of measurement chosen for a key attribute. While there is no strict, universally applicable benchmark for determining the economic significance of scope impacts, we deem these estimates to be of an adequate and plausible order of magnitude. Implications of the results for future DCE research are provided.

42nd Meeting of the Norwegian Association for Economists

25th Annual Conference of the EAERE, Berlin (online)

42nd Meeting of the Norwegian Association of Economists

SSB - Discussion papers

Norway is considering a national afforestation program for greenhouse gas (GHG) sequestration on recently abandoned semi-natural pastureland. However, the program may have negative impacts on landscape aesthetics and biodiversity. We conducted a national choice experiment survey to estimate non-market benefits of the afforestation program, compared to an alternative program of recovering pastures and the status quo of natural reforestation. Combining the preference data with secondary data on costs, we derive the social net return on land use alternatives. We find that restoring half of the abandoned pastures for grazing yields the highest net present value. Rural households closer to abandoned pastures are the largest beneficiaries of this policy due to the value they place on pastures and their disutility of natural reforestation. Their willingness to pay (WTP) for recovering pastures is more than three times that of urban households, while non-use values derived from carbon sequestration and biodiversity seem more constant across space. The net present value of all land use alternatives are still positive when limiting the aggregation of WTP to rural households, and when allowing for the presence of substantial hypothetical bias in benefit estimates and for cost increases. Results indicate that landscape and biodiversity values are substantial and should be considered when designing agricultural and climate policies.

Samfunnsøkonomen s. 6-17

NVEs framleggelse av nasjonal ramme for vindkraft på land har skapt mye diskusjon om de negative miljøvirkningene. Det samlede kunnskapsgrunnlaget mangler samfunnsøkonomiske vurderinger generelt og diskusjon av miljøkostnader spesielt. Vi gir en oversikt over en stor internasjonal litteratur som kvantifiserer og verdsetter miljøkostnadene av vindkraft. Videre presenterer vi noen resultater fra pågående forskningsarbeid som har som formål å kartlegge den norske befolkningens preferanser og avveininger. Det er tydelig fra litteraturen og vårt eget arbeid så langt at det er en relativt stor kostnad for natur og omgivelser som kommer til uttrykk ved å undersøke folks avveininger med miljøøkonomiske metoder. Vi mener disse miljøkostnadene i mye større grad bør undersøkes i norsk sammenheng og integreres bedre i private og offentlige beslutninger. Ikke minst gjelder det i diskusjonene om Nasjonal Ramme, i NVEs konsesjonsprosesser og ved ikke å fravike prinsippet om at forurenser skal betale, også når det gjelder naturinngrep ved vindkraftutbygging. Det er på høy tid at forslaget om en naturavgift, som blant annet ble anbefalt av Grønn Skattekommisjon, tas opp igjen. En burde også vurdere opsjonsverdier knyttet til å vente på at havbasert vindkraft kan komme til erstatning for landbasert utbygging.

IntraFish Media AS

Årlige fellessamlingen til Rogaland Fylkeskommune

Fagdag i Samfunnsøkonomi 2019

FNF 2019: "Nye kommuner, nye muligheter"

NOR-BRA2020 Summer School: Biodiversity:"Towards sustainable use of the environment"

UiS Seniorforum

Seminar Series

Universitetet i Stavanger

Surfing as an ocean recreational activity is open access and generally without entrance fees. Valuing the recreational activity can, therefore, not be determent as straightforward as market commodities. Through “surfonomics” one can determine the economic value of waves and benefits gained by surfing to local communities. In this master thesis, the author examines the non-market value of surfing at the coast of Jæren, Norway. A reveal preference estimation in a random utility model of site choice is implemented to measure the recreation surfing benefits under status quo conditions and possible effects in site value for three hypothetical scenarios. This study uses data from an on-site survey conducted at the coast of Jæren in April 2018. Discrete choice models with fixed effects are estimated and used to derive total willingness to pay for two commonly known local surf sites, respectively Bore and Sele. Willingness to pay per trip per person is found to be in the range from NOK 11.81 to 15.83 in five estimated models. The annual non-market value of surfing, therefore, ranges from NOK 265 135 to 355 384. Results were calculated using a conservative estimate of 22 450 annual surfing trips. Results stemming from the three hypothetical scenarios suggest that wave quality, wave frequency and water quality at Jæren is expected to increase a site`s value. Hence, as the quality characteristics increase so will local visitations and surfers well-being.

Universitetet i Stavanger

The main purpose of this study is to estimate the non-market value of Bore and Hellestø beaches in Norway, and the change in value under different hypothetical scenarios that might affect beach recreation. Information on the economic value of non-market goods, such as beaches, is necessary for optimal decision-making regarding coastal issues and policies that affect recreational value. Combining an individual travel cost model with contingent behaviour questions, this paper estimates the individual demand for recreation for two Norwegian beaches. Using a panel data approach, which compares both fixed effects and random effects models, we estimate the consumer surplus for status quo and for hypothetical quality changes. The consumer surplus estimates illustrate how the value of the beaches are negatively affected in the case of an environmental deterioration such as an oil spill or an activity restriction in the sand dunes.

WCERE 2018

SIU NOR-BRA summer school: Biodiversity: Giving value to the sustainable use of the environment

Workshop on stated preference valuation of wind and transmission line externalities

NAERE 2018

Workshop on stated preference valuation of wind and transmission line externalities

40th Meeting of the Norwegian Association for Economists

Universitetet i Stavanger

Jærkysten er et gode som naturen forsyner oss med. Ettersom strendene langs Jærkysten er attraktiv for turisme- og rekreasjon er det viktig å forstå verdien av naturressursene. I fravær av spesifikke markedspriser på rekreasjonsområder kan miljøverdsetting anvendes for å kartlegge forbrukernes preferanser for naturressurser og for å sette en pengeverdi på miljøvennlige varer og tjenester. Informasjon som oppnås ved verdsetting av naturområder kan være nyttig når beslutningstakere skal forvalte naturressurser på en samfunnsmessig optimal måte. I oppgaven estimeres rekreasjonsverdien under status quo og under kvalitetsendringer for Solastranden og Orrestranden ved å anvende reisekostnadsmetoden. Datasettet inneholdt en kombinasjon av uttrykte- og avslørte preferansedata. Resultater fra Poisson- og negativ binomisk regresjonsmodeller avslører at den gjennomsnittlige økonomiske bruksverdien per personbesøk på Solastranden og Orrestranden er henholdsvis kr. 122 og kr. 109. Ved et konservativt anslag på 100 000 årlige personbesøk til hver av strendene estimeres årlig rekreasjonsverdi til 12.16 millioner kroner for Solastranden og 10.92 millioner kroner for Orrestranden. En havvindpark i utsiktshorisonten ved strendene vil ha minimal eller ingen effekt på antall årlige turer, mens forbud mot å gå tur med hund på strendene ser ut til å ha en negativ velferdseffekt for Solastranden hvor konsumentoverskuddet reduseres med 1.24 millioner kroner.

Åpen Dag 2017

Brukerseminar

Valuation of ecosystem services for practical use in Norway and internationally

Solakonferansen/Innovasjonskonferansen 2017 - Inspirasjonstorget

Seminar om verdsetting av natur i reiselivet, Sogndal, 28. November 2017

2017 Meeting of the Norwegian Association of Economists

This paper analyzes data from a contingent valuation experiment carried out in a context with large degree of preference heterogeneity and valuation ambiguity. Despite this challenge, by implementing estimation of an unrestricted valuation function on pooled data from two elicitation formats, utilizing all preference information available from the survey, we are able to estimate welfare measures with an acceptable degree of statistical confidence. It turns out that an offshore wind farm, a priori believed to constitute a “bad” that people would be willing to pay to avoid, instead was a “good” that people would be willing to forego under compensation. This was true on average, but not for all study participants. Two key determinants of preferences were spatial proximity to the proposed wind farm and perceptions of the visual impacts of wind turbines. Individuals who would be near thought wind turbines are “ugly” had a mean willingness to pay to avoid the wind farm of about $510 per household per year. In contrast, those who would be far away and perceived wind turbines as “beautiful” had a negative mean willingness to pay to avoid the wind farm of about -$600 per household per year.

Valuation of ecosystem services for practical use in Norway and internationally

First Annual Workshop of the Nordic Association of Environmental and Resource Economics

The travel cost method (TCM) has been scarcely employed in Nordic contexts, despite over half a century of widespread international use as one of the least contested nonmarket valuation methods in environmental economics. In Norway, the TCM is virtually absent from current environmental valuation research in Norway. This paper presents results from a new TCM study conducted in the context of popular city-near recreation area in Norway. This type of site is under increasing development pressures due to rising population and emerging industries. For policy-makers and public resource managers to make good decisions, they need information about the value that such sites generate and the opportunity costs of diminished access to nature and recreational opportunities. We estimate baseline values for the local recreation area using an individual-level single-site TCM approach, while controlling for substitution possibility. Importantly, we supplement revealed preference information with stated behavior data to investigate how placement of a wind farm in the viewshed of the area could affect recreation demand and values. While wind power preferences have been investigated in many valuation studies before, only a few of them used TCM framework. The main findings of the paper are as follows: Estimated baseline consumer surplus is NOK 61-122 per person per visit, with NOK 87 (≈Euro 9.9) being the mean estimate from the “preferred” model. Extrapolated to a conservative count of 200 000 annual visits, this yields a total recreational value of NOK 17.4 million per year. Placement of a wind farm in the viewshed is predicted to affect negatively both the average use-value and the number of annual visits. The estimated reduction in consumer surplus varies from 20% to 35%, depending on model specifications. The paper compares these models and their predicted net welfare impacts.

«State-of-the-art and future research directions in coastal ecosystem service valuation

Project workshop objectives: The primary objective is to analyse how values of ecosystem services (ES) can be reliably estimated and combined in an amended cost-benefit analysis (CBA) framework to better understand and illuminate decision-relevant trade-offs on different spatial and temporal scales within the coastal zone. Some research challenges to be discussed at the workshop: • Future research directions in non-market ES valuation research, specifically in a coastal and marine contexts. • How to conduct further validity testing and triangulation of the methods to achieve higher level of precision and credibility (often demanded by users), especially for SP methods. • How to conduct ES valuation studies that are specifically designed for decision-support and CBA, not just «awareness raising», and that deal directly with practical challenges such as: o Scientific uncertainty, o Spatial explicitness of values, use of GIS tools, o Temporal stability of values over medium and longer terms, o Assessing affected populations & aggregation over ES use and non-use values. • ES are not always easy to value in monetary terms, or it may not be meaningful to do so. Integrating monetary and non-monetary values associated with ES into a hybrid CBA framework is both a policy and management need, as well as a research challenge. • For CBA to play a more important role in the policy process, a more explicit focus on distributional/equity issues is also needed to better understand underlying conflicts.

St. Olav Videregående Skole, geografi

23rd Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

Contingent valuation is a commonly used method to elicit willingness to pay to avoid oil spills and their corresponding impacts. One of the main criticisms of the method is its apparent inability to pass scope tests. In the context of oil spill prevention, respondents are not always willing to pay more to prevent a larger oil spill size. This paper aims at adding to the sensitivity to scope research by analyzing how sensitivity to scope to oil spill sizes can be observed. An empirical application is implemented for the case of a potential oil spill in the Lofoten region in Norway. When sample observations are filtered in order to avoid problematic responses, we find mean annual willingness to pay (WTP) per household of NOK 1970, 2162, 2577 and 2888 for a small, medium, large and very large oil spill, respectively. The estimates to avoid the largest oil spills are statistically different from the estimate to avoid a small oil spill. If problematic responses are kept, then this study does not pass an external scope test.

Universitetet i Stavanger

In this study the values that could be lost if an environmental damage occurs in Vestfjorden are estimated. The overall research question is: “What is the willingness to pay for preventing an oil spill in Vestfjorden?”. The idea is that this might give indications on how people value the region’s environment and their current economic and recreational use of it. Focus is further on identifying the use and non-use components of the potential losses. In other words, a goal is to learn what parts of these that are related to use of the Vestfjorden area and not. The Contingent Valuation Method is applied in order to investigate this. The data is taken from an Internet administered survey conducted in 2013, for which a sample from the Norwegian population was stratified on county level. The respondents were asked if they were willing or not to pay a proposed sum of money to avoid a constructed environmental damage in Vestfjorden. There were questions concerning recreational usage of the area, and others to detect various potential effects on the subject in focus. Average annual willingness to pay per household in a 10-year period is estimated to be between 1304 and 1359 NOK. Total values that could be lost if an environmental damage occurred in the Vestfjorden area is calculated at 28.6 billion NOK. There is a high degree of uncertainty surrounding these numbers. The non-use component makes up the largest part of the potential losses. This means that many Norwegians who are not defined as users of the area want to pay for preserving it. The result indicates that Vestfjorden is of national importance. Various demographic and other variables seem to affect how individuals value the region. The study was planned and implemented according to recommendations for the Contingent Valuation Method. Most of the explanatory variables that are included in the analyses have the expected estimated coefficients. The value estimates resembles the ones found in other researches. Together, this indicates that the results from the study are reliable and valid.

MILJØØKONOMISK FAGLUNSJ

Fagdagen 2016.

Departementenes servicesenter, Informasjonsforvaltning

International Workshop on Agricultural Policy Analysis

Universitetet i Stavanger

Universitetet i Stavanger

Universitetet i Stavanger

Universitetet i Stavanger

This paper examines households? preferences for community recycling programs, which have both public and private good dimensions, using stated preference data from a household survey carried out in Seattle, Washington. It begins with estimations that uncover varying preferences across program types and across individuals within specific program types, and yield unique estimates of willingness to pay for community recycling rate improvements. Predicted individual-specific utility parameters are then regressed on household background information to explicitly examine the nature of preference heterogeneity. Overall, this paper generates interpretable policy-relevant insights into the public and private good dimensions of community recycling programs.

Department of Economics, University of Oslo