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Research Issues in Benefit Estimation

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Measuring Water Quality Benefits

Part of the book series: International Series in Economic Modeling ((INSEM,volume 3))

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Abstract

Less than a decade ago, Freeman [1979] completed a comprehensive overview of the theory and the practice of benefit measurement for environmental resources. In the process of considering the implications of our research and the issues that follow from our findings, Freeman’s general conclusions on measuring water quality benefits offer a good place to begin:

Suppose the administrator of EPA wished to know the magnitude of the benefits accruing from a given pollution control policy. If asked, I believe an economist could specify the economic theory and models he would use, the data he would like to have, and the empirical techniques he would apply to the data to obtain measures of benefits. This is a fairly optimistic statement about the state of the art. One must be careful not to read too much into it. The appropriate models and techniques can be identified; and the data requirements can be established. But this does not mean that gathering the data and implementing the techniques would be easy. (Freeman [1979], p. 248, emphasis added)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    V. Kerry Smith

  2. Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

    William H. Desvousges

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  1. V. Kerry Smith
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  2. William H. Desvousges
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© 1986 Kluwer-Nijhoff Publishing, Boston

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Smith, V.K., Desvousges, W.H. (1986). Research Issues in Benefit Estimation. In: Measuring Water Quality Benefits. International Series in Economic Modeling, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4223-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4223-3_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8374-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-4223-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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