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This paper examines the impact of introducing high-speed trains on consumer welfare, taking the ensuing changes in train schedules into account. Based on the estimated demand model for travel which incorporates consumer’s heterogeneous preferences for travel schedules into the standard discrete-choice model, I separately evaluate the impact from adding high-speed trains and that from changes in train schedules. The results indicate that consumers who travel between two cities connected by high-speed trains benefit from the introduction of high-speed trains, while some travelers whose choice set does not include high-speed trains face a reduced frequency of non-high-speed trains, resulting in significant losses.

This study aims to value air quality from the urban housing market in Yogyakarta City. It is also provides estimation of marginal willingness to pay for the air quality improvement and estimation of the consumer surplus due to reduce of air quality. The methodological framework for estimation is based on a hedonic price model. The result of hedonic price method concludes that by adopting a two-stage estimation procedure to estimate the relationship between air quality and property value, on the average, an increase in the level of O3 by one percent will increases the property price by 0.063 percent. By using a health production function and demand function mitigation can be seen that the medical history of the individual has effect on the number of working days lost. Meanwhile, O3 pollution has positive effect on the amount of medical expenses for mitigation. Decreasing in O3 pollution causes a decrease in the level of medical expenses to mitigate. Therefore, it is important to reduce the negative impacts of air pollution.

This paper is based on the classic economics hypothesis that the presence of a reduced number of suppliers on a market can provide them a larger negotiation power towards consumers, thus being able to abuse this power in the disadvantage of consumers. Because the telecommunications market is characterized by a reduced number of operators due to its specific features, the present paper wants to analyze what are the implications on consumers, for the perspective of the costs they endure and what effects have the regulations on this market for the consumers from Romania. The paper analyzes how the reduction of interconnection tariffs affects the price structure of mobile communications, penetration rate of mobile communications, the degree of usage of these services and the evolution of the number of operators in the market, comparing the evolution of these variables before and after the 2009 European Commission proposals. Also the paper aims to determine the demand equation for mobile communications services through a panel model that analyzes 21 of the member states of the European Union, to identify the main factors that have influence on the demand and also to determine the price elasticity of demand.

A well-known result with important policy implications is that an output increase is a necessary condition for social welfare to increase with third-degree price discrimination. In this paper, we explore the robustness of this result to the introduction of an assumption that is different than the conventional approach, namely preferences not being quasilinear. We show that in the presence of income differences among consumers, the aggregate utility of consumers may increase with price discrimination while total output remains constant. This result questions the general policy recommendation that third-degree price discrimination should be disapproved because it reduces welfare unless output increases. Our result highlights the crucial role of the assumption of quasilinear preferences in standard welfare calculations. In the presence of income differences, consumer surplus may be a biased welfare measure, thus potentially leading to incorrect conclusions when assessing the impact of specific policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kilim Karst Geoforest Park is a special conservation area within a Permanent Forest Reserve (PFR), consisting of limestone landscape, an extensive mangrove forest system, beaches, coastal wetlands and islands. However, the limestone, forest reserve and mangrove areas have been identified as environmentally sensitive, and are under threat by development activities. Currently, there is a lack of information on the economic benefits of the geoforest park, in terms of services. A demand model of international visitors to the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park (KKGP) was derived and compared the benefit estimated using both travel cost and consumer surplus adjustment techniques. The Travel Cost Method (TCM) has been employed to derive the demand model, whilst the concept of consumer surplus was used for value determination and comparison. The findings showed that the benefit estimated using travel cost adjustments, based on satisfaction attained, is €288,000,000, and number of hours spent in the park is €141,000,000, which was greater than that for the consumer surplus adjustment based on satisfaction attained €278,640,000 and number of hours spent €123,840,000. The study proposed the travel cost adjustment technique findings rather than the consumer surplus adjustment technique, since it was based on specific KKGP model estimation. In conclusion, the findings on the monetary value of the geoforest park will alert the community regarding the importance of conserving KKGP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity needs our attention because humans receive a wide range of direct and indirect benefits. Valuation of biodiversity is important to establish the importance of use and non‐use values of biological resources and cost of ignoring them. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study is to capture the recreational value of the national park biodiversity while employing travel cost method. To this end, the value of the economic benefits generated by sustainable management of Dachigam National Park in Jammu and Kashmir (India) is estimated using data from 301 visitors from different parts of the country. Data are analysed using count data models, and results reveal that travel cost method is suitable for valuation of various use values generated by environmental resources such as national parks. Estimated results show that consumer surplus per visitor per visit in present study is equal to Rs. 12,470 (US$197), which translates into an annual monetary recreational value of about Rs. 247,614,828 (approximately US$3,930,395). Demand for tourism services is also found to be fairly insensitive to travel cost/price. Therefore, an increase in entry fee and redistribution of proceeds can improve the physical and financial management of the park. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of alternative food policy options adopted in wheat sector in Pakistan, on the welfare of consumers, producers, government revenue, and foreign exchange requirements. In order to estimate the consumer and producer surpluses/losses, it requires supply and demand elasticities of wheat and demand elasticity of fertilizer. These elasticities were calculated by estimating supply and demand functions of wheat and demand function of fertilizer using co-integration and error correction techniques. However, partial equilibrium model has been used for welfare policy analysis which indicates that input subsidy gives net return to the society, while import and price support generates net losses. Combined policy option generates the highest net return to the society when input subsidy and price support are combined in the ratio of 90 and 10 per cent, respectively. Such comparison would help the policy makers in making optimal allocations of scarce resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ridesharing's phenomenal growth has been fueled by a combination of efficiency gains through technological innovation and disregard for current taxi regulations. The end effect has been the generation of significant consumer surplus, but at what social cost? This dialogue piece debates whether ridesharing services have been good or bad for Canadian cities and then reviews current regulatory status in Toronto and Vancouver. Key Messages: Ridesharing, and Uber specifically, has experienced phenomenal growth in the last five years, which has upended the taxi industry in Canadian cities.Zwick argues that ridesharing has been detrimental to Canadian cities because it compromises safety standards, increases precarious labour, and intensifies congestion.Spicer argues that ridesharing has been a positive for Canadian cities because it generates consumer surplus, creates new employment opportunities, and disrupts a broken market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The law on excessive pricing by a dominant firm derives from Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), considered in the United Brands (UB) decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The UB decision described a test that requires an assessment of whether prices are excessive to the point of being unfair in the sense that it has no reasonable relation to economic value of the product supplied (either in itself or in comparison to other products). In this article, we describe a coherent microeconomic framework for understanding the proper relationships between price, economic costs, and economic value. In particular, we propose an economic approach, which we believe courts should adopt to help structure their consideration of allegations of excessive and unfair pricing. While the economics can be very helpful in structuring analysis under both limbs of the UB test, it also makes clear that ultimately judges will need to make a judgment about what is, and what is not, fair pricing by a dominant firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many economic studies value birdwatching in general and often do not account for potential differences in viewers’ benefits from observing different species. But, how different are economic values of viewing various bird species? To answer that question, we surveyed Ducks Unlimited (DU) members using an online questionnaire to estimate trip expenditures and consumer surplus per trip for viewing pintail ducks, waterfowl in general, and other species of waterfowl. Expenditures per trip were USD $231, $199, and $182, respectively. Consumer surpluses per trip, estimated using the contingent valuation method, were $28, $32, and $29, respectively. Neither expenditures nor consumer surplus were statistically different among species for DU members who are adept at species differentiation. Our results suggest that it may be reasonable to use a general economic value for waterfowl viewing when formulating management alternatives for a variety of waterfowl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We fuse and jointly estimate revealed and stated preference data over the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill time horizon to analyze the potential for a new seafood traceability system to mitigate long-run decreases in product demand following a major contamination event. Findings indicate that traceability information flows that provide more precise information to oyster consumers regarding the location of harvest ameliorate consumers’ perceived risk of eating oyster meals after the spill, leading to a significant increase in demand. Further, the magnitude of the increase is greater than the negative long-term, post-spill effects, leading to overall welfare gains. However, any price increase associated with the information will mitigate the initial welfare gains. Overall, our findings suggest that the potential success of a new seafood traceability system depends on implementation costs and the extent to which price increases are passed on to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Meta-analysis of hunting values shows differences for species type and U.S. region. • Forecasted values and uncertainty bounds are calculated for hunting types. • Meta-regressions for benefit transfer can offer an improvement over other types of transfers. Abstract Recreational hunting in the United States has traditional and cultural importance, and generates substantial economic benefits to individual hunters themselves. This paper conducts a meta-analysis of existing nonmarket valuation estimates for hunting in the United States to explore sources and implications of variation and uncertainty in these estimates. A multi-level meta-regression model is estimated to forecast point estimates for different hunting contexts, as well as to construct bounds of uncertainty around these estimates. The results and discussion provide insight to practitioners who need to conduct or understand benefit transfer, as well as those particularly interested in the value of hunting in the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feral swine (also called wild pigs; Sus scrofa Linnaeus) are known to cause damage to crops among other types of property damage. This research addresses the lack of economic welfare estimates of wild pig imposed crop damages in the literature by estimating the value of wild pig removal with respect to five crops in nine southern U.S. states. An equilibrium displacement model was used to assess the changes in price and quantity that would result from eliminating damage to corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and peanuts in these nine states. Changes in price and quantity were used to calculate the changes in producer and consumer welfare in both the short- and long-run. The total producer and consumer surplus gains were found to be $142 million in the short-run and $89 million in the long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]