Environmental Economics

Classic

I took some time off and visited family in Kentucky last week. It was raining when we were packing up on Sunday so I moved the car into the garage to tie everything up on top. The angle isn't the best, but do you notice anything odd about this picture?

Right on, we couldn't get out of the garage. I had to take down the bags, pull the car out and tie them back up there. 

This sort of thing happens to me almost daily. 

EAERE 2013

From the inbox:

We are pleased to inform you that the Scientific Programme of the 20th Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists is now accessible online at http://www.webmeets.com/EAERE/2013/Prog/.

We also invite you to visit the Conference website at http://www.eaere2013.org, where information on keynote speakers, the venue, transportation, social programme, registration, accommodation, and much more is available. 

Stylin

I can't wait to take it to the Farmer's Market on Saturday. Going to be a lot of jealous haters.

Just got back from NOLA

Here is the conference website: http://www.cnrep.lsu.edu/

Call for Papers: AERE Sessions at the Southern Economic Association Meetings

Southern Economic Association Meetings
November 23-25, 2013
Tampa Florida

The SEA 2013 Annual  Meeting will be held November 23-25, 2013 (Saturday through Monday) at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina in Tampa, Florida. Authors wishing to have a paper considered for the AERE sessions should send a .pdf file by e-mail to:

John Whitehead
Email: whiteheadjc@appstate.edu
Subject Line: AERE SEA

Deadline to submit is March 1, 2013. Files should be sent by the proposed presenter who will be the contact for correspondence. The file should contain the following information:

1. Author's (and co-author's) name, address, affiliation, telephone number, and e-mail address.
2. Title of paper.
3. Abstract of no more than 100 words.
4. JEL codes.

Papers submitted without all the required information will not be considered. Electronic acknowledgements of submissions will be sent to all submitters.

Proposals for complete sessions are also encouraged. Organizers of proposed sessions should submit abstracts for EACH of the papers following the above instructions. Papers may be accepted or rejected on an individual basis unless the organizer specifically requests the session be considered only in its entirety.

Please note that all selected presenters must be 2013 AERE members.

I survived NOLA

I'm back from attending the Southern Economic Association meetings in New Orleans, LA. I got back home Sunday night at 10:30 and was in the office around 8 on Monday morning. Thank goodness I'm administering exams this week as my head and nerves are shot. Here is the debriefing:

• I arrived in NOLA after dinner time on Thursday night. I still managed to eat some spicy shrimp, a half dozen broiled oysters and a bowl of gumbo with Abita Amber to wash it down.
• Thursday was filled with 4 sessions. As I recall, I drew random numbers for ordering the AERE sessions for submission to the SEA. The SEA proceeded to place the sessions associated with my research agenda all on the first day. No complaints, but it made for a long day.
  • The 8 am session was good with about 25+ attendees.
  • I missed the 10 am session to discuss a paper in a teaching session. Buy me a beer sometime and I'll tell you about the odd reception one of my comments received.
  • I presented one of my papers in the 1 pm stated preference session (lunch involved finishing up my presentation). There were, again, 25+ attendees and I received a large number of questions and comments that will help focus my paper on the relevant issues. I continue to be amazed at the usefulness of AERE sessions at the SEA meetings.
  • The 2 pm was another stated preference session with 25+ attendees. Many of these had attended all four AERE sessions that day. The number of useful comments was lower than the previous sessions as exhaustion set in.
• Friday night was the UK cocktail party with a moving tribute to Bill Stober (note: I always called him Dr. Stober). It was also the annual dinner with my dissertation advisor (and our spouses). We ate at the Red Fish Grill where I had the grilled grouper with BBQ oyster appetizer (NOLA pale ale). The waiter was 90% sure it was black grouper. It was a great time. 
• With only about 45 minutes of downtime on Friday, I missed the 8 am session on Saturday (and ate a big breakfast - "free" since the first room we went to on Thursday had not been cleaned) but put my head down the rest of the day:
  • At 10 am I participated on a teaching panel and discussed my experiences with community based research in the benefit-cost analysis course. I was genuinely surprised to get a few interested questions. Apparently, other schools are putting the pressure on people to do this sort of thing. My experience has been good but it is like having kids: high benefits, high costs, positive net benefits but the benefit-cost ratio won't blow anyone away.
  • I skipped lunch to exercise (after a long hallway conversation about Hausman's JEP paper). 
  • I attended a non-AERE environmental session at 2 pm since the papers more closely aligned with my research interests. The presentations were good ... but I don't understand why one would choose to submit to a regular SEA session instead of one that is AERE sponsored. Even if you are not an AERE member, the submission fee is waived so AERE membership is subsidized (membership is a requirement for participation in AERE sessions). Wouldn't you be willing to pay $42 for all of the benefits of AERE membership, plus great comments on your paper from interested audience members (and not disinterested discussants) and an overall sunnier mood in an AERE session?
  • At 4 pm I attended the AERE session and heard two great papers. Two other papers had dropped out for various reasons, an epidemic at this year's meeting according to the SEA people.
  • I heard that the AERE sessions that I missed were all good. Attendance was in the 15-20 range. This still represents an AERE premium over regular SEA sessions (both of the ones I attended had less than 10 in attendance).
• Immediately after the close of the last session was the AERE happy hour in the Sheraton lobby bar (I had Abita Amber). We had great attendance. It was cool to see all of the new assistant professors getting to know each other (I regret that I wasn't able to get in on that conversation) and several groups formed for dinner. I had dinner (fried flounder and oysters at K-Paul's) that involved three couples celebrating three economists' last SEA meeting before they turn 50. I had a Makers Mark (rocks) in celebration of the life of  Bill Stober (note: Dr. Stober is the source of my preferred nickname, "lonewolf"; I think this was the password to the copy machine at UK in the late 80s, or something like that).
• Sunday morning? Yikes, I'm exhausted and skip the 8 am session in order to eat pancakes in the room and finish off my last presentation. The session was one of those oddball, miscellaneous applied micro sessions. Nevertheless, three presenters and three discussants showed up and tried to do an admirable job. The audience consisted of co-authors and a stray economist or two. The total number in the room reached 9 at one point. 
• In order to get back to Boone before midnight I had a 4:20 flight and had to miss the last two sessions of the today. On the way out of the hotel it seemed like this was very common. I wandered the halls around 1 pm and it seemed like a ghost town. Sorry to the poor saps in those sessions. There must be a better way to end a conference (but don't ask me for any ideas). 

CNREP 2013

This is a great conference. I've attended two, I think, and regret that I missed the most recent. I'll be sure to get my abstract submitted by November 12. From the inbox:

Global Expert on Ecosystem Services to Headline CNREP 2013 Conference

Dr. Edward Maltby will be the keynote speaker at CNREP 2013: Challenges of Natural Resource Economics and Policy – The 4th National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems. Maltby is professor emeritus of wetland science, water and ecosystem management at the University of Liverpool, UK. 

During the past 40 years, Maltby has gained an international reputation for developing innovative policy instruments focused on the management and conservation of water resources and wetland ecosystems. He played a key role in the creation and implementation of the Ecosystem Approach for the Global Convention on Biological Diversity; the United Kingdom’s National Ecosystem Assessment; contributed to development of the Ramsar Convention’s Wise Use Concept; and developed horizontal guidance for wetlands under the European Unions’ Water Framework Directive.

Dr. Maltby’s keynote presentation will focus on integration of biophysical and socioeconomic sciences for the measurement, valuation, and implementation of ecosystem services in public policy. His address will mark the opening of the CNREP 2013 conference to be held March 24-26, 2013, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans. Early conference registration is $350; $200 for students. For more information, visit www.cnrep.lsu.edu.

“We are thrilled to have Ed Maltby as our keynote speaker for this forum,” said Rex Caffey, conference co-chair and professor of natural resource economics at Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter. “Dr. Maltby has been a global visionary in the realm of ecosystem services and he’s intimately acquainted with the challenges we face in Louisiana and the northern Gulf region.” During 2011-12, Maltby held the Laborde Endowed Chair in Research Innovation for the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

The triennial CNREP forum focuses on the opportunities and challenges of socioeconomic research in the development of coastal resource management and policy. Session topics for the forum include, but are not limited to, market and nonmarket valuation of natural resources, environmental benefit-cost analyses, economic linkage/impact assessment, input-output modeling, and comparative assessments of resource management and coastal restoration policy.

The deadline for CNREP 2013 abstract submissions is Monday, November 12, 2012.

Third Call for Abstracts: CNREP 2013

The Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy (CNREP) is announcing a third call for abstracts for: CNREP 2013: Challenges of Natural Resource Economics & Policy – The 4th National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems.

The conference, to be held March 24-26, 2013, in New Orleans, focuses on the opportunities and challenges of socioeconomic research in the development and evaluation of coastal resource restoration and management. Potential session topics include, but are not limited to, market and nonmarket valuation of ecosystem services and coastal resources, environmental benefit-cost analyses, economic linkage/impact assessment, input-output modeling, and comparative assessments of resource management and restoration policy.

Basic and applied research, extension-oriented, and policy discussion submissions are all welcome. The deadline for abstract submission is Monday, November 12, 2012.

The call for abstracts is available at: http://www.cnrep.lsu.edu.

Sponsor information: http://www.cnrep.lsu.edu/Sponsors%202013.html.

For information about CNREP, go to: http://www.cnrep.lsu.edu/AboutCNREP.html.

Find CNREP on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CNREP.

For additional information, contact:

Rex H. Caffey, Professor and Director
Center for Natural Resource Economics & Policy (CNREP)
Louisiana Sea Grant and LSU AgCenter
179 Woodin Hall, Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

 

I'm getting ready to embarrass myself at UNCG

Updated: AERE sessions at the 2012 SEA meetings

After a few cancellations, late additions, rearranging the lineup that will go into the printed program has 12 sessions, 48 papers and 0 discussants. Here is the link: http://www.etnpconferences.net/sea/sea2012/User/ProgramSponsorOrgSessions.php?SOID=1#.

What is the name of this auction?

Sometimes my friends make blogging easy. From the inbox:

I'm taking a flight on Delta tomorrow and checking in early online. Toward the end I get a question about whether I would be willing to give up one leg for a different connection - for compensation of course. There were no details on the alternatives, just a question about whether I would be amenable to the idea and, if so, the gate agent would provide alternatives at the gate. I replied "yes" then I got a screen that asked for my WTA as an open-ended question, with a qualifier that Delta would be taking the lowest bids first. Ah, I have a new found respect for Delta...