Sunday, April 15, 2007

New article

Coming up in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Abstract:

This article uses latent segmentation analysis to estimate the benefits of contaminant cleanup in Waukegan Harbor, Illinois. Survey responses to attitudinal and perception questions provide significant information about the existence of distinct preference groups. By comparison, the predictive usefulness of demographic covariates is unclear. The expected aggregate willingness-to-pay of Waukegan homeowners for full cleanup is approximately equivalent to a 20% increase in the market value of homes. The aggregate estimate is little affected by the identification of preference clusters.