Forest environmental economics: general framework, contingent valuation methodology, and welfare analysis of threatened species

Swedish forest environmental economics is a relatively young discipline and research in this field has grown rapidly in the last twenty years. Important factors contributing to this development have been the environmental movement and environmental legislation. A brief history of this field of economics is presented. The main part of the thesis is devoted to some current empirical and methodological problems within forest environmental economics. To this end, five threatened species in Sweden (bear, wolf wolverine, lynx and the white-backed woodpecker) are chosen as the objects of study. First, the social costs for different population densities of bear, wolf, wolverine and lynx were estimated. These estimates were based on actual cost data for predation on livestock in Sweden, as well as on ecological theory. The social costs of larger predator populations were compared with the genetic gains, in terms of reduced future inbreeding. Subsequently, benefit estimates of different wolf population densities were derived by means of a mail contingent valuation survey, using both discrete choice and open-ended valuation questions. A number of estimation techniques were used, which all showed that, if viability was guaranteed, benefits did not change significantly with varying population densities. This indicated that benefits largely consist of an existence value. The accuracy of the benefit estimates from the main mail survey was then improved by accounting for the attitudes of nonrespondents, by using a telephone follow-up survey. A further improvement in accuracy was obtained, by deriving and applying non-parametric estimators of the mean willingness-to-pay and its variance to the descrete choice data. An optimal policy for endangered species management was developed, by using two of the studies described above, as well as information from a contingent valuation survey concerning the white-backed woodpecker in Sweden. Given available information, marginal benefits were assumed to be known with certainty, while marginal costs were not. Taxes and quantitative regulations of the population density were considered as policy instruments. For species such as the wolf and the woodpecker, primarily representing an existence value, the optimal policy was found to be a quantitative regulation equal to the minimum viable population.