High Country Air Quality

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High Country Air Quality

• By Emily, Anne, Rob, and David

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Purpose

• The purpose of this study is to estimate the
  value of clean air as stated by visitors and
  locals of the High Country that consume the air.
• Each student collected ten surveys, totaling 40
  surveys, which asked questions about ones
  willingness to pay for improved air quality.

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• Hello, my name is ______________. Im a student
  at ASU and were conducting a survey. The survey
  is designed to gather information about
  visitation to the Blue Ridge Parkway).  The
  information provided is anonymous and cannot be
  traced to survey participants.  The results will
  be used for student research and class purposes
  only. Would you be willing to answer a few
  questions? It will only take about 5 minutes.
• 1. How many people are in your party today? _____
  People
• 2. Are you a local resident or a visitor staying
  overnight in the High Country (you need to define
  this somehow, e.g., Ashe, Allegheny, etc)?
• _____Local Resident (skip to 3)
• _____Vacationer staying for overnight in the High
  Country
• How many nights will you spend in the High
  Country? _____ nights
• How many years have you vacationed in the High
  Country? _____ years
• 3. How many miles did you travel to get to your
  destination today? _____ Miles (one-way)
• 4. How many hours will you stay at the Parkway
  today? _____ Hours

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• 5. How many times during the past 12 months did
  you visit the Parkway? _____ Visits
• 6. On a scale 1-5 where 1 is not important at all
  and 5 is very important, how important is air
  quality in the High Country to you?
• 2 3 4 5
• 7. On a scale 1-5 where 1 is not important at all
  and 5 is very important, how important is air
  quality in your home town to you?
• 2 3 4 5
• 8. Have you noticed the effects of acid rain in
  the High Country?
• Yes No
• (if yes) Does this affect the number of trips
  that you make to the Parkway?
• (if yes) About how many times would you visit the
  Parkway in a year without acid rain damage? _____
  visits
• 9. On a scale of 1-5 where 1 is not concerned at
  all and 5 is very concerned, how concerned are
  you about acid rain in the High Country?
• 1 2 3 4 5

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• Consider the following situation. The U.S.
  Environmental Protection Agency sells pollution
  permits that allow power plants to release
  pollutants that cause acid rain. These permits
  are auctioned off to power plants and the public
  every year. A permit for one ton of pollution
  cost about 400 last year. The Acid Rain
  Retirement Fund is an organization that raises
  money from the public and bids against power
  plants for the pollution permits. They retire the
  pollution permits they buy, preventing power
  plants from producing acid rain.
• 10. If you were given the opportunity
  (hypothetically), would you be willing to make a
  one-time donation to the Acid Rain Retirement
  Fund to help reduce acid rain pollution?
• Yes No (skip to next question)
• If yes, what would you donate during 2005? _____
• 11. In what year were you born? 19 ___ ___
• 12. What is the highest level of education you
  have completed?
• High School 2-year college 4-year college
  Masters degree Other graduate degree

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13. Do you smoke cigarettes? Yes No (skip
next question)How many years have you been a
smoker? _____ yearsAbout how many cigarettes do
you smoke each day? _____ cigarettes14. Do you
take Basil pills for lung health? Yes
NoSex Male FemaleThank you for
participating in our survey. http//www.usm.main
e.edu/pos/arrf.htm
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Methods

• Each student collected 10 surveys by asking
  random people at different locations in the High
  Country the aforementioned questions.
• The survey methods used to collect data include
  revealed preference questions and stated
  preference questions.

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Revealed Preference

• Revealed preference was measured by asking and
  observing the behavior of High Country
  residents/visitors.
• Ex. How many times during the past 12 months did
  you visit the Parkway?

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Stated Preference

• Stated Preference questions included contingent
  behavior about future trips and contingent
  valuation or ones willingness to pay (for
  cleaner air).
• About how many times would you visit the Parkway
  in a year without acid rain damage?
• We asked the respondents how much they would be
  willing to contribute to the Acid Rain Retirement
  Fund in 2005, knowing their donation would be
  used to bid against power plants to retire
  pollution permits.

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Theory
TC
?CS
CS
Trips
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Regression Stats

• Dependent variable ln(trips)
• R Squared 0.26
• Observations 80 (40 x 2)
• Coefficient (Intercept) 2.79 (p lt 0.01)
• Coefficient (Travel Cost) -0.021 (p lt 0.01)
• Coefficient (SP) 0.016 (p 0.96)

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Our Statistical Model
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Theory of Demand
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Consumer Surplus with TCM

• Semi-log model CS -trips/b
• Average Trips 31.85
• CS 31.85/.021 1517
• 7 million visitors a year (assuming that NC VA)
• Aggregate CS 10.62 billion

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Willingness to Pay

• WTP 73.57
• Without outlying 1600 contribution- WTP
  28.68
• 7 million visitors a year (assuming that NC VA)
• Aggregate WTP 514,990,000
• WTP 200,760,000

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Conclusions

• Our effort to observe a shift in demand due to
  acid rain proved insignificant due to the
  insignificance of our coefficient.
• P-value was very close to 1.
• Our only stated preference question barely
  shifted our demand curve
• A solution to this would be to collect more data
  with more stated preferences, as we only had one
  question