Browsing by Author "Parsons, George R."
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Item Continuous Attribute Values in a Simulation Environment: Offshore Energy Production and Mid-Atlantic Beach Visitation(Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2017-06) Fooks, Jacob R.; Messer, Kent D.; Duke, Joshua M.; Johnson, Janet B.; Parsons, George R.This research measures the welfare losses to beachgoers from the visual disamenity associated with offshore energy projects. We use a contingent-behavior approach in a field setting wherein respondents use a simulation to control the placement of offshore wind turbines and/or oil platforms in their choices. Our model allows for valuation results with continuous, instead of discrete, spatial resolution. We analyze the data using a duration or survival model consistent with random utility theory and recover an expression for willingness-to-pay as a function of distance of shore. We find three distinct clusters of participant responses. Most participants were relatively accepting of the wind turbines and had a much more elastic damage function as compared to oil platforms. On the other hand, a minority of participants displayed a strong aversion to any offshore installations, and had a higher level of damage from turbines instead of oil platforms.Item Tourist Preferences and Externalties of Views of Wind Turbines(Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2016-10-25) Fooks, Jacob; Messer, Kent D.; Duke, Joshua M.; Johnson, Janet B.; Li, Tongzhe; Parsons, George R.Previous research about the potential visual disamenity of wind turbines has used stated preference methods or hedonic studies of home prices. This study uses a field experiment of tourists on a ferry to evaluate the impact of wind turbines on tourism. Tourists are given an opportunity to purchase a chance for a weekend hotel stay that varied in quality and by its distance from and view of a large turbine. Results from a within-subject study of 65 tourists suggest that tourists prefer higher quality hotel rooms, being farther from the turbine (up to 1.5 miles), and views that do not include the turbine. Thus, the placement of on-shore turbines may have a larger negative economic impact that previously estimated.