Factors Affecting the Households’ Willingness-to-Pay for Wastewater Treatment in Agro-Food Processing Craft Villages, Nhue-Day River Basin, Vietnam

Industrialization is a major strategy of Vietnam for the development of the countryside. One such program is the promotion of craft villages that have been successful in increasing income levels that are 5 times more than those villages mainly engaged in agricultural production. However, while such programs have brought prosperity to these villages, they have ignored the adverse effects on the environment brought about by the wastewaters from the processing plants. Would these households involved in agro-food processing be willing to pay for the establishment of a wastewater plant to address the environmental problems? What factors would influence their willingness to pay? The results of the study among the selected households in Nhue-Day River Basin, Vietnam involved in agro-processing showed that the major factors affecting their willingness to pay for the establishment of a wastewater treatment plant are their level of education, quantity of households’ untreated wastewater, presence of young children who are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of pollution, experience of family members getting sick, households’ awareness of benefits from treated wastewater, capacity to pay, access to credit and membership in craft village’s Association. The study recommended that decisions on addressing environmental issues should be participatory to be able to take into consideration the socio-economic conditions of the stakeholders.

Farmers' Willingness-to-Pay for Environment and Human Health and Adoption of IPM

Although chemical control of pests increases crop production, it brings a lot of damage to environment and human health. There exist a number of alternative methods that are not so harmful to environment and human health. However, whether and how much in extent these technologies adopted are plausible depends on the comparison of benefit-cost between chemical control and the alternative control methods (such as Integrated Pest Management, IPM) and farmers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for envirorment and human health. Using contingent valuation method (CVM), the author investigates farmers' WTP for environment and human health, recognizes the factors influencing WTP, and accordingly points out the importance of pest control technology extension and government regulation of pesticides.

Estimating Urban Households’ Willingness-to-Pay for Upland Forest Restoration in Vietnam

Increased urbanization coupled with increased reliance of urban communities on rural areas for ecosystem service provision is a challenge faced by many nations. The ability of urban households to directly support restoration efforts in surrounding rural regions represents an underappreciated funding stream for ecological restoration. This study explored the willingness of urban households to support forest restoration in Vietnam. We surveyed 211 households (HHs) in the capital city Hanoi, Vietnam. A Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) model allowed us to obtain the parameters of our model and quantify mean Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for a program of forest restoration in addition to identifying factors influencing the decision of WTP. Generally, over forty percent of the households surveyed are willing to pay for forest restoration and the mean value of WTP is 37,830 VND ($1.73) per household per month. WTP depends on endogenous and exogenous factors including level of education, income, female-to-male ratio in the household, attitude toward payment for monthly electricity consumption, and awareness of payment for environmental service. Our results suggest that urban household’s demand for forest restoration is real, and represents an untapped source of restoration funding. Policy-makers should take actions to apply charges on water bills to turn this potential into reality for restoration projects in Vietnam if the benefits from restoration outweigh the costs based on our findings.

Households’Willingness-to-Pay for Wastewater Treatment in Traditional Agro-Food Processing Villages,Nhue-Day River Basin,Vietnam:Case Study in Hanoi City

Despite the number of studies focusing on the financial analysis of production activities, conducting on technical solutions, and improving water quality, no study has been conducted on the application of economic instruments that apply to water quality management in craft villages, and several studies of WTP also. This study aimed to estimate the households’ willingness-to-pay for wastewater treatment in selected traditional agro-food processing villages in Nhue-Day River Basin, Vietnam. A pilot Choice Experiment (CE) technique in Choice Modelling (CM) approach was applied for this study with 267 selected agro-food processing households by using the conditional logit (CL) and random parameter logit (RPL) models. The results showed that total annual environmental fee for wastewater treatment from agro-food processing households is estimated as 1089 million VND (equal to US$47,868 per year) for the total of 902 agro-food processing households in three research sites in Nhue-Day River Basin. This estimated budget for wastewater treatment accounted for 55.85% of total annual operation and maintenance costs only. In addition, the technology is improved to enable 90% of treated wastewater. Overall, the results of this study suggest the new wastewater treatment plant construction and improved wastewater collection system by increasing the investment in order to improve the water quality in Nhue-Day River Basin that brings about the reducing environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and human health risks.

Exploring willingness-to-pay for the restoration and maintenance of reserved forests in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

In recent years, debates on the alarming rate of forest depletion emanating from growth in urban settlement and changed urban land-use patterns have gained prominence across the globe. The present study adopts a demandside management approach to investigate household’s willingness-to-pay for the restoration and maintenance of protected forest reserves in three municipalities in Ghana. Using survey data of 733 households from the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, we model the demand for forest restoration and maintenance, respectively, by means of the contingent valuation technique. As part of the findings, the study shows evidence that a household is willing to pay Gh￠50.99($8.67) and Gh￠31.12($5.29) per annum to restore and maintain the protected forests,respectively. These amounts constitute less than one percent of the average household income per month.Consequently, critical validity tests are conducted to validate the robustness of the results. This study provides willingness-to-pay estimates for forest and forest resources, and its associated determinants. These estimates seek to bridge the information gap and inform policy decisions toward the overarching aim of ensuring sustainable forest management in Ghana.

Estimating the Willingness-to-Pay for Urban Housing in Chinese Cities

The housing market, an important component of the urban economy, is closely integrated with urban development. Urban development attracts labor inflows which then increase the housing demand in the cities. Urban dwellers＇ willingness-to-pay （WTP） for housing, as part of their living costs, depends on their incomes they can earn in the cities and the quality of life （QOL） they want to enjoy. Urban wage growth and quality of life improvements are always accompanied by increased demand and increased WTP. This paper uses the average wages of fully-employed employees and various city indicators to reflect the urban QOL to explain the relationships among people＇s WTP for housing, their urban wages and their urban QOL across 35 metropolitan cities in China. The empirical results illustrate that the urban QOL represented by city indicators and the average wage level accounts for approximately 70% of the housing price variation. Although wages still have significant impact on the WTP, the QOL in Chinese metropolitan cities tends to contribute more to the residents＇ WTP for housing, indicating that social and natural environments are valued by urban residents more and more.

Valuing health effects from the industrial air pollution in rural Tianjin,China

High concentrations of air pollutants such as total suspended particulates(TSP) and sulfur dioxide(SO_2) have serious impacts on nearby populations. In this paper, a survey of rural Tianjin residents' willingness-to-pay for health improvement was reported on, and the MBDC(multiple bounded discrete choice) model was adopted to study the respondents' willingness-to-pay to prevent respiratory illnesses. The results showed that the willingness-to-pay for health improvement was affected by respondents' health condition, work situation and environmental awareness, but not by personal habits, such as smoking. If person's willingness-to-pay to avoid respiratory diseases can be considered equal to the cost to personal health caused by air pollution, the total cost will reach 538×10 6 RMB Yuan(RMB, equal to 65 million USD) per year.

Modification of Costanza's model of valuing ecosystem services and its application in China

In the past,evaluations of ecosystem functions were mostly based on Costanza's model,whereas the spatial,quality and temporal characteristics of regional ecosystems were not considered in the model.Focusing on these issues,coefficients of regional difference,spatial heterogeneity and willingness-to-pay(WTP)were established to modify Costanza's model,and a new comprehensive valuation model of ecosystem functions is proposed.The analytical results indicate that the comprehensive model could evaluate regional ecosystem functions in China accurately and provide more helpful information for decision-making.The empirical study on Zhangbei County in Hebei Province shows that the intensive human activities could limit the provision of ecosystem functions while the planned ecological programs might promote the restoration of ecosystem functions.

Considerations in Applying the General Equilibrium Approach to Environmental Health Assessment

There are currently two commonly used approaches to assessing economic impacts of health damage resulting from environmental pollution： human capital approach （HCA） and willingness-to-pay （WTP）. WTP can be further divided into averted expenditure approach （AEA）, hedonlc wage approach （HWA）, contingent valuation approach （CVA） and hedonlc price approach （HPA）. A general review of the principles behind these approaches by the authors indicates that these methods are incapable of unveiling the mechanism of health impact from the point of view of national economy. On a basis of economic system, the shocks brought about by health effects of environmental pollution change the labor supply and medical expenditure, which in turn affects the level of production activity in each sector and the total final consumption pattern of the society. The general equilibrium approach within the framework of macroeconomic theory is able to estimate the health impact on national economy comprehensively and objectively. Its mechanism and applicability are discussed in detail by the authors.

Empirical Analysis of Forest Landscape Value Assessment:A Case Study of Huangshui Forest Park in Xining,Qinghai Province

Questionnaire survey and CVM were adopted to evaluate economic value of Huangshui Forest Park in Xining,Qinghai.Value of its forest landscapes was assessed,multiple linear regression was established to analyze correlation between factors related to willingness-to-pay(WTP).

Residents' Attitude to Pay for Urban River Restoration:Empirical Evidence from Cities in Yangtze Delta

Public willingness to pay （WTP） for urban rivers res- toration was investigated in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou in China with a sample of 1,285. The factors influencing positive WTP against zero WTP are analyzed using a binary logit model. The results indicate that income, Huff （residential registration） status, household size, home property ownership, riverfront access, and attitudes toward current water quality arc statistically signifi- cant in the likelihood of positive WTR It is also found that respon- dents without local Huff are less willingness to pay positively in pooled sample and Shanghai sample. In the group holding property right of house but without local Huff is less willingness to pay positively in Hangzhou. Respondents in Nanjing are more will- ingness to pay positively than those in Hangzhou. Most common arguments against to pay for the restoration are ＂government＇s duty＂, ＂low income＂, ＂non-local-Huji＂ and ＂lack of trust in the government in how it spends money＂. The results are generally consistent with the hypothesis and specific situations in China. The findings make some contributions to the non-market valua- tion studies as well as provide useful information for public policy making in China.

Residents’ Preferences for Rural Housing Disaster Insurance Attributes in Central and Western Tibet

Understanding the heterogeneous preferences of individuals for disaster insurance attributes is critical for product improvement and policy design.In an era of global environmental change,the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a hotspot of natural hazards.Improving the capability of rural housing disaster insurance to foster local residents’disaster resilience is of great signifcance but remains under addressed.We used a discrete choice experiment approach to provide the frst estimates of rural residents’preferences for rural housing disaster insurance attributes in central and western Tibet.We estimated residents’preferences and willingness-to-pay for the sum insured,subsidy rate,insured object,and perils covered.The potential impacts of increasing the sum insured,expanding the insured object,and lowering subsidy rates were evaluated.Our results suggest that residents prefer products with a high sum insured,high subsidy rate,and a complete list of insured objects.Residents who have experienced specifc hazards tend to prefer the corresponding perils covered.Females and residents who have a closer social network are more likely to purchase insurance.Product improvement and policy simulation results suggest that,while lowering the subsidy rate,increasing the sum insured and expanding the insured object could promote participation and improve residents’welfare.Our results could improve the understanding of the preferences of households in remote regions and support policy implementations.

Who Is More Willing to Pay for Green Electricity?A Case Study of Anyang City,China

Green electricity(GE)is of great importance for effectively combating climate change and global Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).The willingness-to-pay(WTP)for GE by end users has great influence on its widespread application,especially at the household level.Researchers have analyzed the mechanisms of residents’WTP and predicted how much they could afford for GE.However,most of these studies have focused on developed(affluent)countries and regions,and residents’WTP as well as the corresponding monetary amount of their WTP were not considered together in previous studies.In this study,we try to fill the gap of the inadequate research of residents’WTP in underdeveloped areas through an analysis of the WTP of urban residents in a small Chinese city(Anyang).A total of 274 household-scale samples were collected by face-to-face interviews in December 2019.We found that approximately 60%of respondents gave a positive response to WTP,with an average value of 8.39 yuan per month.Educational attainment,per capita disposable income in the household,the length of residents’time living in urban areas and the rate of neighbors’approval of WTP are all positively correlated with the tendency of the residents’positive response toward WTP.The three factors of per capita disposable income,the rate of neighbors’approval of WTP and the degree of residents’environmental concerns are positively correlated with the amount of residents’WTP.More importantly,we demonstrated the existence of a weak“Herd Effect”in residents’views of WTP.Finally,some suggestions for policymakers are given,such as raising household income through retraining and raising residents’environmental awareness through education and community advertisements.This study also highlights that the widespread application of GE at the household level will be of great assistance to the GE industry overall.Therefore,the rising economic cost of GE should not be shared by the households in the long term.

Barriers to Insurance as a Flood Risk Management Tool:Evidence from a Survey of Property Owners

By using risk-adjusted price signals to transfer responsibility for property-level flood protection and recovery from governments to property owners,flood insurance represents a key tenet of the flood risk management(FRM)paradigm.The Government of Canada has worked with insurers to introduce flood insurance for the first time as a part of a broader shift towards FRM to limit the growing costs of flooding.The viability of flood insurance in Canada,however,has been questioned by research that disputes the utility of purchasing coverage by property owners.This study tested this assumption by drawing on public opinion survey data to assess factors that influence decisions about the utility of insurance.The findings reveal that Canadians have limited knowledge of flood insurance coverage,exhibit a low willingness-to-pay for both insurance and property-level flood protection measures,and expect governments to shoulder much of the financial burden of flood recovery through disaster assistance.