High Country Air Quality
By Emily, Anne, Rob, and David
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 one’s
willingness to pay for improved air quality.
Hello, my name is ______________. I’m a student at ASU and we’re
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
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?
1 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?
1 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
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
graduate degree
Other
13. Do you smoke cigarettes?
Yes No (skip next question)
How many years have you been a smoker? _____ years
About how many cigarettes do you smoke each day? _____ cigarettes
14. Do you take Basil pills for lung health?
Yes
No
Sex: Male
Female
Thank you for participating in our survey.
*http://www.usm.maine.edu/~pos/arrf.htm
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.
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?
Stated Preference
• Stated Preference questions included contingent
behavior about future trips and contingent
valuation or one’s 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.
Theory
TC
ΔCS
CS
Trips
Regression Stats
•
•
•
•
•
Dependent variable = ln(trips)
R Squared = 0.26
Observations = 80 (40 x 2)
Coefficient (Intercept) = 2.79 (p < 0.01)
Coefficient (Travel Cost) = -0.021 (p <
0.01)
• Coefficient (SP) = 0.016 (p = 0.96)
Our Statistical Model
160
140
Travel Costs
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
5
10
Trips
15
20
Theory of Demand
Travel Costs
Travel Cost Method
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
5
10
Trips
15
20
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
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
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