title: Policy Analysis: Valuation of Ecosystem Services in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
abstract: This study estimates the economic value of an increase in ecosystem services attributable to the reduced acidification expected from more stringent air pollution policy. By integrating a detailed biogeochemical model that projects future ecological recovery with economic methods that measure preferences for specific ecological improvements, we estimate the economic value of ecological benefits from new air pollution policies in the Southern Appalachian ecosystem. Our results indicate that these policies generate aggregate benefits of about $3.7 billion, or about $16 per year per household in the region. The study provides currently missing information about the ecological benefits from air pollution policies that is needed to evaluate such policies comprehensively. More broadly, the study also illustrates how integrated biogeochemical and economic assessments of multidimensional ecosystems can evaluate the relative benefits of different policy options that vary by scale and across ecosystem attributes.
authors.affiliation: Economics Department, Georgia State University , 14 Marietta Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
authors.forename: H Spencer
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Banzhaf
authors.affiliation: Resources for the Future , 1616 P Street NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States.
authors.forename: Dallas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burtraw
authors.affiliation: Eden Housing, Hayward CA (formerly Resources for the Future) , 22645 Grand Street, Hayward, California 94541, United States.
authors.forename: Susie Chung
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Criscimagna
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia , 291 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903, United States.
authors.forename: Bernard J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cosby
authors.affiliation: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460, United States.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Resources for the Future , 1616 P Street NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Krupnick
authors.affiliation: Resources for the Future , 1616 P Street NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States.
authors.forename: Juha V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Siikamäki
mesh_terms: D001061:Appalachian Region; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011050:Policy Making