Valuing the private and public dimensions of a mixed good: An application to pest control.

摘要

his research analyzes household decisions to control gypsy moth damage and reduce impacts on services provided by trees as part of landscape amenities. The analysis was designed to estimate how households in a ten-county area of Maryland and Pennsylvania valued control programs varying in their coverage from those focused on private neighborhoods to areawide control including public parks and greenways.;The conceptual model extends past contributions, integrating models analyzing commodities exhibiting characteristics of both private and public goods with those designed to describe motives for charitable behavior.;The data were collected using a random-digit dialed telephone-mail-telephone survey of households in counties that experienced gypsy moth infestations. Focus groups and qualitative techniques were used to develop the questionnaire. The first phase of the survey involved 962 households. Fifty-eight percent agreed to participate in the second interview. Of those agreeing, four hundred thirty-six second interviews were completed.;The empirical analysis of actual control decisions made by households was motivated by a household production model. The findings were consistent with hypotheses implied by the mixed good model. Contingent behavior models were derived from conditional indirect utility functions, with evaluation of the sensitivity of the results to the specification of these functions.;The contingent behavior format was successful in modeling control preferences. The results were consistent with actual behavior and indicate selection effects can be important. The estimated willingness to pay for control is related to the extent of private pest control. There was also a small incremental value for reducing impacts on public areas.;Estimates for the linear models indicate private benefits of