Description
Book SynopsisFeaturing real world examples of how risk information affects public choices,
The Economics of Environmental Risk expertly demonstrates that policymakers need to consider how people learn about those risks. Offering insights into examples such as hazardous waste, radon, smoking, hurricanes and terrorist threats over the past four decades, this intuitive book illustrates environmental risks and the choices made to mitigate the potential effects.
Providing a deep dive into how public policies and information affect private choices, this book highlights the successes and failings of these choices, recognising how decisions made can have an influence on the hazards that are faced. It also focuses on important lessons to be learnt by officials providing information on risk and designing policies for managing them. Further consideration is also given to how experts understand these risks and how the public interprets the information provided.
Scholars and students of public policy, risk analysis and environmental and resource economics will value the useful examples found in this informative volume. Policymakers in risk and insurance, and risk management programs will also find this an instructive guide on the ever-changing environmental risks we face.
Trade Review‘Kerry Smith is a Renaissance Man of Economics. This book represents the master at work, drawing implications from research that traverses four decades of scholarship, the economics of environmental risk comes alive in ideas that scale, policies that are cost-effective, and insights that generalize to situations beyond risk. Anyone who wants to learn, or is just curious about pathbreaking economic work, should pick up this insightful and encyclopedic collection of articles.’ -- John List, University of Chicago, US
‘Much of what I know about risk I learned from reading Kerry Smith’s papers in this volume. He is the master of understanding how microeconomic theory and real world behavior meld together to provide insights into how to communicate risk, value risk, and improve policies designed to help manage risk.’ -- Richard T. Carson, University of California, San Diego, US
‘How much is it worth to decrease pollution? Kerry Smith, a pioneer in using surveys to understand the public’s perception and valuation of environmental health risks, brings together the insights he and his colleagues gleaned as they developed the methods that have become fundamental to evaluating environmental policy.’ -- James K. Hammitt, Harvard University, US
Table of ContentsContents: I SETTING THE STAGE 1 ‘Introducing The Economics of Environmental Risk’, December 2022 2 II VALUING ENVIRONMENTAL RISK REDUCTIONS 2 ‘The Valuation of Environmental Risks and Hazardous Waste Policy’, with William H. Desvousges, Land Economics, 64 (3), August, 1988, 211–219 30 3 ‘An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Value of Risk Changes’, with William H. Desvousges, Journal of Political Economy, 95 (1), February, 1987, 89–114 39 4 ‘The Welfare Cost of Uncertainty in Policy Outcomes’, with Edward E. Schlee, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 98, September, 2019, 1–12 65 5 ‘Complementarity and the Measurement of Individual Risk Tradeoffs: Accounting for Quantity and Quality of Life Effects’, with Mary F. Evans, Environmental and Resource Economics, 41, November, 2008, 381–400 77 6 ‘VSL Reconsidered: What do Labor Supply Estimates Reveal about Risk Preferences?’ with Subhrendu K. Pattanayak and George L. Van Houtven, Economics Letters, 80 (2), 2003, 147–153 97 III RISK PERCEPTION AND CONTEXT 7 ‘How Do Risk Perceptions Respond to Information? The Case of Radon’, with F. Reed Johnson, Review of Economics and Statistics, 70 (1), February, 1988, 1–8 105 8 ‘Subjective Versus Technical Risk Estimates: Do Risk Communication Policies Increase Consistency?’, with William H. Desvousges, Economics Letters, 31, December, 1989, 287–291 113 9 ‘Risk Communication and Attitude Change: Taiwan’s National Debate over Nuclear Power’, with Jin Tan Liu, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 3, December, 1990, 331–349 118 10 ‘Information, Addiction, and “Bad Choices”: Lessons from a Century of Cigarettes’, with Frank A. Sloan and Donald H. Taylor, Jr., Economics Letters, 77, September, 2002, 147–155 137 11 ‘Longevity Expectations and Death: Can People Predict Their Own Demise?’ with Donald H. Taylor, Jr. and Frank A. Sloan, American Economic Review, 91 (4), September, 2001, 1126–1134 146 IV DO RISK INFORMATION PROGRAMS ‘WORK’? 12 ‘Learning About Radon’s Risk’, with William H. Desvousges, Ann Fisher and F. Reed Johnson, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1, June, 1988, 233–258 156 13 ‘Can Public Information Programs Affect Risk Perceptions?’ with William H. Desvousges, F. Reed Johnson and Ann Fisher, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 9 (1), Fall, 1990, 41–59 182 14 ‘Do Risk Information Programs Promote Mitigating Behavior?’, with William H. Desvousges and John W. Payne, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 10, May, 1995 203–221 201 15 ‘Communicating Radon Risks Effectively: The Maryland Experience’, with William H. Desvousges and Hiller H. Rink III, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 11 (1) Fall, 1992, 68–78 220 16 ‘Terrorist Threats, Information Disclosures, and Consumer Sovereignty’, with Carol Mansfield and H. Allen Klaiber, Information Economics and Policy, 25, December, 2013, 225–234 231 V BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO RISK 17 ‘The Value of Avoiding a LULU: Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites’, with William H. Desvousges, Review of Economics and Statistics, 68 (2), May, 1986, 293–299 242 18 ‘Risk Communication and the Value of Information: Radon as a Case Study’, with William H. Desvousges, Review of Economics and Statistics, 72 (1), February, 1990, 137–142 249 19 ‘Do Smokers Respond to Health Shocks?’, with Donald H. Taylor, Jr., Frank A. Sloan, F. Reed Johnson and William H. Desvousges, Review of Economics and Statistics, 83 (4), November, 2001, 675–687 255 20 ‘Valuing a Homeland Security Policy: Countermeasures for the Threats from Shoulder Mounted Missiles’, with Carol Mansfield and Laurel Clayton, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 38, June, 2009, 215–243 268 21 ‘Adjusting to Natural Disasters’, with Jared C. Carbone, Jaren C. Pope, Daniel G. Hallstrom, and Michael E. Darden, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 33, 2006, 37–54 297 22 ‘Who Lives in Flood Prone Areas?’, with Ben Whitmore, 2022 315 VI POLICY DESIGN FOR RISKS 23 ‘Can Environmental Bonds Manage Policy-Induced Risks?’ Prepared for the Environment Canada Research Network through the University of Ottawa, October 2014 332 24 ‘Pre-positioned Policy as Public Adaptation to Climate Change’, June 2010 366
