Every so often, I get requests to do an economic impact analysis of a local tourism event, or a new business that’s recently opened in the area. The person that is asking usually knows enough about an economic analysis to know that they need one (or think they do), but not always enough to make …
Measuring Willingness to Pay for Environmental Attributes in Seafood Hilger, J., Hallstein, E., Stevens, A.W. et al. Environ Resource Econ (2019) 73: 307. We found this article very interesting because of our recent work with CEI on growing farmed scallop in Maine. Most research suggests that consumers are willing to pay for environmental attributes (like …
Americans go through 102.1 billion plastic bags each year, and those bags end up everywhere. Whether they’re in whale stomachs, or in our water as microplastics, the volume has people concerned. In an effort to reduce the amount of plastic, bans on single-use plastic bags are on the rise. California and New York already have …
For generations most companies have measured their success or failure by the amount of profits and losses they experience. This is in part because financial gains and losses are easy to quanitfy, but also because legally a company owes a fiduciary duty of care to its stockholders, and must weigh stockholder impact when making corporate …
On December 28, 2018, the Trump administration announced that the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) that restrict mercury emissions were too costly and without enough benefits to make them necessary. Those in favor of the restrictions argue that the real cost comes from changing the standards. Why is mercury an issue? Mercury is a …
This past week, newly elected governor Janet Mills ended former governor Paul LePage’s ban on wind farms in certain areas of the state. As an environmental economist, I am in favor of increased wind power in the state. Renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and in certain circumstances, hydropower, will help with our much …
By the time this blog post comes out, the “yellow vest” riots in France may be old news. But this fall, people took to the streets of France, seemingly angered by a proposed fuel tax. Opponents of carbon taxes were quick to declare victory: if France, a country with a fairly liberal (in the American sense …
Property Value Impacts of Wind Turbines and the Influence of Attitudes toward Wind Energy Richard J. Vyn Land Economics, Volume 94, Number 4, November 2018, pp. 496-516 (Article) This article uses a hedonic analysis to investigate the effect of wind turbines on property values, and whether that effect seems to differ between communities that are …
Date: January 8, 2019 Time: 4:00PM Location: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland Dr. Rachel Bouvier will be the featured presenter at the next Waterfront Alliance Meeting on Tuesday, January 9th. She will be joined by other community members as part of a discussion on the topic: Crafting an Economically Sustainable Working …
You’ve probably heard about some of the recent changes from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But you might have missed the proposal about particulate matter (PM), since it didn’t get as much press. Or even if you saw it, you might not have recognized all the implications because they’re not immediately obvious. This proposal is …