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It is generally acknowledged that willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates for environmental goods exhibit some degree of spatial variation. In a policy context, spatial variation in threatened and endangered species values is important to understand, as the benefit stream from policies affecting threatened and endangered species may vary locally, regionally, or among certain population segments. In this paper we present WTP estimates for eight different threatened and endangered marine species estimated from a stated preference choice experiment. WTP is estimated at two different spatial scales: (a) a random sample of over 5000 U.S. households and (b) geographically embedded samples (relative to the U.S. household sample) of nine U.S. Census regions. We conduct region-to-region and region-to-nation statistical comparisons to determine whether species values differ among regions and between each region and the entire U.S. Our results show limited spatial variation between national values and values estimated from regionally embedded samples, and differences are only found for three of the eight species. More variation exists between regions, and for all species there is a significant difference in at least one region-to-region comparison. Given that policy analyses involving threatened and endangered marine species can often be regional in scope (e.g., ecosystem management) or may disparately affect different regions, our results should be of high interest to the marine management community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-market valuation research has produced value estimates for over forty threatened and endangered (T&E) species, including mammals, fish, birds, and crustaceans. Increasingly, Stated Preference Choice Experiments (SPCE) are utilized for valuation, as the format offers flexibility for policy analysis and may reduce certain types of response biases relative to the more traditional Contingent Valuation method. Additionally, SPCE formats can allow respondents to make trade-offs among multiple species, providing information on the distinctiveness of preferences for different T&E species. In this paper we present results of an SPCE involving three U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species: the Puget Sound Chinook salmon, the Hawaiian monk seal, and the smalltooth sawfish. We estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for improving each species’ ESA listing status and statistically compare these values between the three species using a method of convolutions approach. Our results suggest that respondents have distinct preferences for the three species, and that WTP estimates differ depending on the species and the level of improvement to their ESA status. Our results should be of interest to researchers and policy-makers, as we provide value estimates for three species that have limited, if any, estimates available in the economics literature, as well as new information about the way respondents make trade-offs among three taxonomically different species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the United Nations Organization''s Kyoto Protocol nations to address two questions. First, what are the environmental production efficiency rankings of these nations? Second, is there a relationship between a nation''s ratification status and its environmental production efficiency ranking? Our findings suggest that the nations that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol are more likely to be environmentally production efficient as compared to the nations that have not ratified the Protocol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]