Kevin J. Boyle

An aspect of bid vector design in choice experiments that has received limited attention is the effect of using non-rounded (or precise) rather than rounded bids. Insights from the marketing and psychology literatures suggests that there are many factors potentially influencing the effects of using non-rounded bids, including image and level effects, accuracy cues, processing fluency, and stimulating more cognitively-based System 2 thinking. Using a split-sample experimental approach in a choice experiment, we find evidence that non-rounded bids may trigger use of System 2 cognitive processes, thereby increasing the number of significant attribute coefficients as well as reducing model variance.

Hedonic housing market valuation of freshwater ecosystems often focuses on aesthetic water quality, overlooking the capitalized value of recreational fisheries. This can be problematic in cases where nutrients simultaneously degrade water quality by supporting increased phytoplankton growth and stimulating the productivity of prized game fisheries. We demonstrate that omitting fish populations from standard hedonic models generates omitted variable bias in mesotrophic lake systems, biasing estimates of the economic value of water clarity. Leveraging 30 years of ecological observations and housing market transaction records from Oneida Lake, New York, we use a hybrid spatial difference-in-differences and repeated-sales design to disentangle the capitalized values of water clarity and recreational fish abundance. We find that excluding fish populations yields counterintuitive estimates for water clarity, but that controlling for the fishery resolves this bias. We also find that fish abundance capitalizes along the lines of angler utility rather than raw biological biomass, where a one-standard-deviation increase in walleye abundance generates approximately $70 million in aggregate property capitalization. Finally, we find a divergence in spatial amenity footprints, with water clarity capitalizing up to four kilometers inland, whereas the value of fish abundance is capitalized predominantly into lakefront property values. These results highlight the need to consider the role of nutrient concentrations in the joint production of aesthetic and recreational amenities to support multi-use freshwater lake management.

This study uses Zillow’s Transaction and Assessment Database to investigate variation in hedonic price effects of water clarity on single-family houses throughout the United States. We consider five spatial scales and estimate models using different sample selection criteria and model specifications. The results indicate considerable spatial heterogeneity within and across the four U.S. census regions. However, we also find heterogeneity resulting from different types of investigator decisions, including sample selection and modeling choices. Thus, it is necessary to use practical knowledge to consider the limits of market areas and to investigate the robustness of estimation results to investigator choices.

Background Both theoretical and empirical evidence supports the potential of modest financial incentives to increase the reach of evidence-based weight control programs. However, few studies exist that examine the best incentive design for achieving the highest reach and representativeness at the lowest cost and whether or not incentive designs may be valued differentially by subgroups that experience obesity-related health disparities. Methods A discrete choice experiment was conducted (n = 1232 participants; over 90% of them were overweight/obese) to collect stated preference towards different financial incentive attributes, including reward amount, program location, reward contingency, and payment form and frequency. Mixed logit and conditional logit models were used to determine overall and subgroup preference ranking of attributes. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data sample weights and the estimated models, we predicted US nationally representative participation rates by subgroups and examined the effect of offering more than one incentive design. External validity was checked by using a completed cluster randomized control trial. Results There were significant subgroup differences in preference toward incentive attributes. There was also a sizable negative response to larger incentive amounts among African Americans, suggesting that higher amounts would reduce participation from this population. We also find that offering participants a menu of incentive designs to choose from would increase reach more than offering higher reward amounts. Conclusions We confirmed the existence of preference heterogeneity and the importance of subgroup-targeted incentive designs in any evidence-based weight control program to maximize population reach and reduce health disparities.

The emerald ash borer (EAB) was first detected in North America in 2002, and since its introduction, this invasive pest has killed millions of ash trees. While EAB kills native North American ash trees in all settings, its impacts have been especially large in urban areas where ash has been a dominant street tree, especially in residential areas. While some management costs, such as insecticide treatment, tree removal, or tree replacement, are relatively straightforward to compute, the impact that EAB has had on residential property values is less clear. To better understand the economic cost of EAB in urban settings, we conducted a hedonic property value analysis to evaluate the impact of ash tree damages due to EAB infestation on housing sales prices. This study was conducted in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which had high stocking levels of ash trees prior to EAB’s arrival. The objectives of the study are to investigate: (1) how EAB-infested ash trees affect property values; (2) whether the benefits from healthy ash trees to property value change after arrival of EAB; and (3) whether healthy ash trees located within infested neighborhoods provide the same benefits as the healthy ash trees located outside of infested neighborhoods. In general, our results show that the EAB outbreak has had a negative impact on home values for properties located in close proximity to the ash tree component of the urban forest. This result holds true for neighborhoods where EAB does not yet pose an imminent threat, and is amplified for neighborhoods where EAB has been detected. Our results highlight the early stages of a dynamic economic process that impacts urban residential property owners subject to the risk of EAB or other tree pests and diseases. In general, we find that forward-looking behavior of residential property owners is capitalized into property values during the process of forest pest infestation.