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Informational failures frequently lead consumers to make non-optimal energy-efficient purchasing decisions. Energy efficiency labels seek to influence consumer behaviour at the point of sale by reducing informational failures regarding energy efficiency. However, several informational and behavioural factors contribute to the energy efficiency gap and could render label-oriented policies useless. The purchasing decision model of Allcott and Greenstone (The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26, 3–28, 2012) is used here to explore the different factors that influence purchasing decisions and understand (i) the importance of energy consumption compared to other attributes; (ii) how consumers weight energy savings and (iii) what other benefits and costs influence the purchase of energy-efficient goods. The analysis reported here is based on qualitative research methods and is conducted in the household and service sectors (the accommodation sector and private service companies), for appliances, heating and cooling systems and cars in Spain. Results show that (i) there is still an informational gap regarding energy labels and (ii) bounded rationality and end-user behaviour are important limiting factors for the purchase of energy-efficient goods in Spain.

The opening up of green spaces could provide significant benefits to society. This study develops a framework to assess the economic benefits and costs of public interventions providing citizen access to urban green spaces. The Thinking Fadura project in Getxo (Spain) was used as a case study. A method for participatory benefit-cost analysis is developed, where a stakeholder-participatory evaluation is combined with a standard cost-benefit analysis. The participatory evaluation followed a bottom-up approach in a sequential evaluation including three main focal points: key stakeholders and experts, visitors and the general public. The assessment demonstrates that the Thinking Fadura project&rsquo, s benefits outweigh the costs. The results suggest that projects designed with the purpose of improving green space accessibility to the general public can be beneficial from a societal perspective. The highest economic benefits were an increase in the amenity and recreational value and an increase in people&rsquo, s physical activity. The participatory evaluation indicates that giving access to people of lower socio-economic status and vulnerable groups and improving recreational use were perceived as the most beneficial. An increase in noise, dirt, and risk of criminal activities as well as potential conflicts between green space users were perceived as the most negative impacts of opening a previously restricted area to the general public. The economic assessment of Thinking Fadura project could serve as a model in the decision-making process in locations where the use of greenspaces is restricted.

The present study collects original monetary estimates for water related ecosystem service benefits on the African continent from 36 valuation studies. A database of 178 monetary estimates is constructed to conduct a meta-analysis that, for the first time, digs into what factors drive water related ecosystem service values in Africa. We find that the service type, biome and other socioeconomic variables are significant in explaining benefits from water related services. In order to understand the importance that benefits from water related ecosystem services have for climate change, we explore the relationship between these benefits and the countries' vulnerability and readiness to adapt to climate change. We find that countries face synergies and trade-offs in terms of how valuable their water related ecosystem services are and their potential vulnerability and adaptation capacity. While more vulnerable countries are associated with lower benefits from ecosystem services, countries with a higher readiness to adapt are also associated with lower ecosystem service values. Results are discussed in light of natural capital accounting and ecosystem-based adaptation.

The housing sector is a substantial consumer of energy, and therefore a focus for energy savings efforts. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is the main EU policy to improve the energy performance of buildings. Following the implementation of the EPC Directive into Spanish law, from June 2013, all properties offered for sale or rented out in Spain are required to have an EPC. Given that this is a recently introduced regulation, unlike other European housing markets, the Spanish one lacks market data on energy efficiency (EE) labels and their impact on housing price. In order to overcome this gap, we determine the EE ratings of a sample of 1,507 homes across Spain on the basis of information collected previously through household surveys. This information allowed us to answer the question of whether or not, and to what extent, Spanish housing markets capitalise the value of EE. We apply the hedonic-price technique and observe that more energy efficient dwellings (meaning higher EE rating) have a price?premium between 5.4% and 9.8% compared to those with the same characteristics but lower EE level.

[EN] Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) is an increasingly used valuation method to guide policy-makers in their landscape management decision-making. However, due to time and budget constraints, conducting an original DCE for every single policy decision may not be possible in practice. In this context, meta-analyses are becoming a popular tool for supporting benefit transfer in environmental valuation. This paper raises the question whether meta-analysis is an option for transferring landscape values using DCEs within Europe. We argue that the use of specific and different attributes, definitions and units of measurement makes it hard to compare willingness-to-pay values across current DCE studies., [ES] Llevar a cabo un Experimento de Elección Discreta (EED) por cada decisión política relativa a la gestión de paisajes no es factible en la práctica dadas las limitaciones del tiempo y el presupuesto. El meta-análisis constituye una herramienta cada vez más utilizada para transferir los valores económicosdel medioambiente. Este trabajo plantea la cuestión de si el meta-análisis es una opción para transferir los valores de los paisajes mediante los EED en Europa. Encontramos que el uso específico y diferente de los atributos, sus definiciones y unidades de medida dificultan la comparación de las disposiciones pagar entre los EED considerados., Amaia de Ayala is grateful to the financial support from the Basque Government through a Ph.D. grant (BFI09.23). Petr Mariel acknowledges financial support from UPV/EHU Econometrics Research Group, Basque Government grant IT-642-13 and Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU) under research grants UFI11/03 and US12/09