1,721,245 research outputs found
Assessing subjective preferences for river quality improvements: combining Q-methodology and choice experiment data
Full text linkChoice decisions are inherently subjective but capturing and explaining
nuanced variation in respondents’ attitudes is difficult and needs more
than the simple socio-demographic variables traditionally used in
economic research. In recent years, environmental economists have
been shifting towards a more holistic approach to economic valuation,
making an increased use of psychology within behavioural economics,
to better understand subjective preferences on the environment. This
research applies a novel mixed-methods approach to integrate the
results from a Q-methodological analysis, which reveals respondents’
latent traits and perceptions about river management, into a choice
experiment which estimates respondents’ preferences for potential
future improvements to river water quality. The purpose is to improve
the quantification of subjectivity within stated preference experiments.
Q-methodology reveals five statistically distinct narratives (characterised
as Ecological, Financial, Leadership, Collaboration, Legislation) which
define the main perspectives respondents hold for river management
strategies. Choice experiment results suggest subjectivity causes
significant differences in respondents’ choice behaviour. Statistically
verified Q-methodological narratives provide plausible explanations for
differences in respondents’ choice preferences regarding river water
quality improvements. By triangulating between quantitative and
qualitative research methods, we demonstrate a research strategy that
can contribute to a better understanding of the impact socially
contested perspectives have on respondents’ choice behaviour
Rapid approach to 3,5-disubstituted 1,4-benzodiazepine via the photo-Fries rearrangment of anilides
No full text(Chemical Equation Presented) Different anilides derived from carboxylic acids and substituted anilines have been submitted to the photochemically induced Fries rearrangement giving the corresponding o-amino phenones under conditions that are compatible with the presence of acid-labile groups (such as N-Boc or TBDMSO) on R1 and R3. These compounds, not easily obtained in other ways, are useful building blocks for the preparation of benzocondensated heterocycles. After coupling with N-Boc amino acids and TFA-mediated deprotection, the products cyclized to the corresponding 3,5-disubstituted 1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones, privileged structures predominantly active in the central nervous system. The same results were obtained by coupling with N-Cbz-protected α-amino acids followed by microwave assisted hydrogenolysis. When the Fries rearrangement was carried out on the anilide derived from N-Boc-Ala-OH and the further coupling done with N-Cbz-(OMe)Asp-OH, the formed benzodiazepines could be inserted in a peptide chain for the preparation of conformationally constrained peptidomimetics. © 2006 American Chemical Society
Generalized Additive Models for NonMarket Valuation via Revealed and Stated preference methods
No full textSingle-site recreation demand and dichotomous choice contingent valuation analyses are typically conducted by implementing models containing strong parametric assumptions, which are rarely underpinned by theoretical arguments. This work illustrates how these assumptions can be relaxed and the estimation conducted semiparametrically by using generalized additive models (GAMs). This approach directly estimates the degree of the variables’ nonlinearities from the data, thereby avoiding subjective choices on the smoothing parameters and offering many advantages when compared to the conventional modeling techniques that dominate the environmental.
economics literature. Additionally, this paper illustrates
how GAMs can be specified to construct theoretically
consistent willingness-to-pay measures
Infrastrutture aeroportuali e turismo. Un esperimento di scelta per la valutazione comparativa del progetto “Aeroporto di Siena”
No full textThe goal of this work is to contribute to the debate on and the understanding of the relationship between air transportation and tourism development. More specifically, it aims at unveiling whether investment in new transport infrastructures always boosts tourists’ flows. A survey allows to analyse a case study, i.e. the proposed enlargement of the Ampugnano airport, a local airport close to Siena, an important cultural and tourist small Italian city. The novelty is to implement a choice experiment to elicit tourists’ preferences towards alternative
multi-modal accessibility systems and a wide range of variables characterizing the trip. In particular,
we investigate whether variables other than cost, duration and distance come into tourist utility functions and affect their decisions. Considering the increasing importance
that environmental quality plays in the choice of destination, particular attention was paid to
the environmental impact of alternative investments
Let the citizens speak: An empirical economic analysis of domestic organic waste for community composting in Tuscany
No full textOrganic waste represents an opportunity and a challenge for policy decision makers and lately the attention has been focusing on community composting practices identifying the environmental and/or economic aspects. Evidence of citizens’ attitudes and preferences is scarce, and this paper aims to fill this gap. The results of a contingent valuation survey in three councils of the Province of Siena, Tuscany (Italy) are reported along with an extended cost-benefit analysis. Results echo previous findings that GHGs emissions and money-saving for all municipalities are positive and encouraging; moreover, our study proves that citizens are keen to switch to the community recycling composter system. Citizens present heterogeneous preferences and accordingly to the current waste management system they might need a small financial compensation to switch in favour of the local community system
Check it out! A Monte Carlo analysis of the performance of selection criteria and tests for models fitted to choice experiments data
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
A choice modelling approach for assessment of use and quasi-option values in urban planning for areas of environmental interest
Full text linkThis study adopts a discrete choice modelling methodology to evaluate individuals' preferences over planning alternatives for an urban site of environmental interest. Since such projects involve some uncertainty and irreversibility, a special attention is devoted to the estimation of the quasi-option values which are associated to project development. Two distinct measures for the quasi-option value are estimated, and both coefficients indicate that the public places a significant value on reduction of the possibility of adverse irreversible effects: a more prudent development strategy is valued about four times more than a procedure that provides a lesser hedge against undesired outcomes. Furthermore, the study involved elicitation of intertemporal preferences over projects with different time spans, and estimation of the implicit discount rates: the values obtained seem high if compared to standard discount rates applied to public projects, but not far from current interest rates on consumption
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