Human impacts such as habitat loss, climate change and biological invasions are radically altering biodiversity, with greater effects projected into the future. Evidence suggests human impacts may differ substantially between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, but the reasons for these differences are poorly understood. We propose an integrative approach to explain these differences by linking impacts to four fundamental processes that structure communities: dispersal, speciation, species-level selection and ecological drift. Our goal is to provide process-based insights into why human impacts, and responses to impacts, may differ across ecosystem types using a mechanistic, eco-evolutionary comparative framework. To enable these insights, we review and synthesise (i) how the four processes influence diversity and dynamics in terrestrial versus freshwater communities, specifically whether the relative importance of each process differs among ecosystems, and (ii) the pathways by which human impacts can produce divergent responses across ecosystems, due to differences in the strength of processes among ecosystems we identify. Finally, we highlight research gaps and next steps, and discuss how this approach can provide new insights for conservation. By focusing on the processes that shape diversity in communities, we aim to mechanistically link human impacts to ongoing and future changes in ecosystems.

In Europe, sewage sludge is mostly used in agriculture (49%) or incinerated (25%). Technologies for sludge management that can support the transformation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) are emerging. Sludge pyrolysis is one of them. It can generate two main high-value co-products: heat and biochar. Moreover, biochar can be transformed into activated carbon. The economic and environmental impacts of sludge pyrolysis and its comparison to the direct application of sludge in agriculture and incineration are unknown. Therefore, we applied a life cycle assessment (LCA) and a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of sludge pyrolysis. We quantified environmental externalities in an LCA and then applied the benefit transfer method to monetize these externalities, which were included in an economic CBA. Pyrolysis reduced impacts in five to nine LCA categories and had a positive economic net present value (NPV) compared to using sludge in agriculture. Pyrolysis with biochar production was not better than incineration, showing increased impacts in nine categories and negative NPVs (−19 to −22 €/t sludge). The factor driving differences between the alternatives was the assumed CO₂ externality price (164 €/ton CO₂-eq) and the removal rate of pharmaceutical micropollutants of the sludge-based activated carbon. High uncertainty in environmental prices is one of the limitations of our study.

Obwohl aquatische (blaue) und terrestrische (grüne) Ökosysteme eng miteinander verwoben sind, werden sie oft getrennt voneinander betrachtet und verwaltet. Um Biodiversität Ökosystem-übergreifend besser zu schützen, braucht es integrative Ansätze in Forschung, Praxis und Gesetzgebung.

Bien qu’ils soient interdépendants, les écosystèmes aquatiques (bleus) et terrestres (verts) sont trop souvent appréhendés isolément les uns des autres. Pour que la conservation de la biodiversité soit plus efficace, la recherche, la pratique et la législation doivent dépasser cette approche cloisonnée au profit d’une vision inter-écosystémique.

Im Wald gibt es eine Vielfalt von Lebensräumen und Arten, die von Wechselwirkungen zwischen Wasser und Land beeinflusst sind. Ein grösseres Bewusstsein für diese gegenseitige Abhängigkeit ermöglicht effektiveren Biodiversitätsschutz.

In these times of strong pressure on aquatic ecosystems and water resources due to climate change and water abstraction, intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) (rivers that periodically cease to flow and/or dry) have become valuable assets. Indeed, not only do they supply water but they also offer services for humanity. Despite a growing recognition towards IRES, information for assessing their ecosystem services (ES) remains scarce. In a first step, an international interdisciplinary group of researchers developed a methodological framework to acknowledge ES provided by IRES using 109 indicators. A subset of selected ES indicators was then applied to two case studies: the Rio Seco in the Algarve (Portugal) and the Giofyros River in Crete (Greece). This paper discusses the applicability of these indicators, including the temporal and spatial variability of IRES flow regimes. Aspects of the framework, such as the methods and time required for data collection, the nature (demand or supply) and functionality of each indicator are discussed. The new framework accounts for flow intermittence in ES analyses and can help scientists and water managers to i) increase the ease and justification for IRES use in management approaches and ii) improve their conservation and restoration with a comprehensive set of appropriate indicators for IRES. In addition, the comprehensive nature of the proposed indicators ensures that they can be understood by a broad audience and easily applicable. Since they were designed through a public participation process, the setting has been prepared for holistic stakeholder analysis and education around IRES functions and associated ES. From a management point of view, it would be particularly relevant to perform an economic evaluation with this new framework to understand the value of each ES category and their trade-offs. For the scientific community, however, it is important to consider public preferences to design socially accepted policies. The proposed indicators can successfully bridge these elements, hereby establishing a solid basis for the assessment of ES provided by IRES.

We present data on the stated preference for the adoption of variable rate technologies from 418 crop farmers in Switzerland. The online survey was conducted online in spring 2021. It consisted of two parts: 1) a choice experiment and 2) questions about farmers' characteristics, expectations and beliefs, as well as their risk preferences. In the choice experiment, farmers were presented with eight consecutive choice tasks. Each task consisted of three alternatives, two hypothetical scenarios for variable rate technologies adoption and the status quo option. We used a split-sample approach and varied the additional profit margin gained through higher yields, label premiums or subsidies for one subsample (focussing on the willigness to accept) and additional cost (acquisition, maintenance and other costs) for the other subsample (focussing on the willigness to pay). Non-monetary attributes include 1) ownership of the technology; 2) potential to increase nitrogen use efficiency and thus reduce nitrogen losses to the environment; 3) uncertainties about the actual impact of the technology on yields and profits (reliability); 4) support in case of technical difficulties. We also collected data on farmers' experiences, attitudes and goals, as well as their risk preferences. Additionally, the survey data were matched with data from the cantonal farm census, which contains information on farm characteristics.

Precision farming technologies are expected to reduce nutrient surplus in agriculture. Uptake of these technologies in European farming systems, however, is low and policy incentives are needed to promote environmental benefits. We conducted a choice experiment with 418 Swiss farmers to elicit their preferences for site-specific nitrogen fertilization technologies. Using a split-sample approach, we elicit both willingness-to-accept and willingness-to-pay welfare measures. Results show that welfare measures for the nitrogen reduction potential vary significantly between the two samples. This indicates that the policy design affects farmers' preferences and willingness to adopt precision farming technologies that reduce nitrogen losses from agricultural production.

In the last decade, an awareness towards temporary rivers has increased globally in response to drying climates and growing human demand for water. However, social perceptions of temporary rivers have rarely been incorporated in their science and management. In this study, we advance an understanding of the socio-cultural values of temporary rivers principally in a European context. We used an ecosystem services-based approach for a participatory and deliberative exercise with 16 researchers and managers. Our results point out to two important aspects of socio-cultural values in temporary rivers. First, cultural ecosystem services have high socio-cultural values and usually represent the interests of the less influential stakeholders in related conflicts. And second, the temporal and geographical variability of these types of rivers is key to understand their socio-cultural values. As an example, the low provision of freshwater in a long non-flowing phase is one of the reasons for its high value. The results above point to future research needs that deserve more attention like the study of tradeoffs and synergies of ecosystem services and interdisciplinary research and management. We finally acknowledge the need to conduct case study research to account for geographical variation and to include the multiple views of different stakeholder groups.

The basis for the assessment of ecosystem services (ES) of non-perennial rivers to date has been a comparison of the ES provision among three different hydrological phases: flowing conditions, isolated pools, and dry streambeds. Being of an opinion that this practice might promote an incomplete and hence biased ES assessment, we propose two considerations for the ES assessment of non-perennial rivers. First, the conditions of each hydrological phase can vary based on the nature of multiple aquatic states. Second, the duration, frequency, timing, and magnitude of the aquatic states matter in the ES provision. Different scenarios of flow regime should be compared instead of hydrological phases in ES assessments. Our proposal sheds some light on the complexity of non-perennial rivers and allows for a better understanding of relationships between non-perennial rivers and society. Therefore, it can serve as the basis for the proper and participatory ES assessment, face for trade-offs between ecosystem conservation and resource use and reduce conflicts among stakeholders within river and water management.

Aquatische und terrestrische Ökosysteme sind eng miteinander verknüpft - sowohl durch die Bewegungen von Organismen wie auch durch den Austausch von Nährstoffen oder Schadstoffen. Dennoch werden in der Regel Wasser- und Land-Ökosysteme isoliert voneinander betrachtet und verwaltet. Diese Silo-Mentalität in Forschung, Praxis und Gesetzgebung behindert integrative Ansätze für den effektiveren Schutz der Biodiversität.

The existing empirical evidence shows that both contingent valuation and discrete choice experiment (DCE) methods are susceptible to various ordering effects. However, very few studies have analysed attribute-ordering effects in DCEs, and no study has investigated their potential influence on information-processing strategies, such as attribute non-attendance (ANA). This paper tests for attribute-ordering effects and examines whether the order of attributes describing the alternatives affects respondents' propensity to attend to or ignore an attribute. A split-sample approach is used, where one sample received a DCE version in which the positions of the first and last non-monetary attributes are switched across the sequence of choice tasks compared with the other sample. The results show that attribute order does not affect welfare estimates in a significant way under the standard assumption of full attribute attendance, thus rejecting the notion of procedural bias. However, the welfare estimates for the attributes whose order was reversed and the share of respondents who ignored them differ significantly between the two attribute-ordering treatments once ANA behaviour is accounted for in the estimated choice models. These results highlight the important role of information-processing strategies in the design and evaluation of DCEs.

Decision-making about flood protection is surrounded by outcome uncertainty. In this paper we look at the influence of individual risk attitudes on flood protection decisions. To this end, we combine the results of a lottery game with the findings from a discrete choice experiment focusing on flood risk reduction measures. We find that the inclusion of non-linear probability weighting increases the explanatory power of the choice model. The result is however sensitive to behavioral assumptions about decisions under uncertainty, as well as whether the lottery was played in the loss or gain domain. Including risk attitudes in the probability weighted model decreases marginal willingness to pay for measures with a low to intermediate flood risk reduction capacity and increases marginal willingness to pay for measures with a very high flood risk reduction effect. This has important implications for the social acceptability of flood reduction measures under different baseline conditions.

Switzerland plans to restore 4000 km of rivers by 2090. Despite the immense investment costs, river restoration benefits have not been valued in monetary terms, and a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) does not exist for any river restoration project in Switzerland. We apply stated preference methods to elicit public preferences and willingness to pay for restoring two specific but representative river sites. The benefits of restoration are compared with its costs. Upscaling the results to the national level shows that the government budget allocated for river restoration (CHF 1200/m) is insufficient to cover the costs of local restoration projects. However, the surveyed local populations are willing to pay substantially more for restoring rivers in their area of residence than they are legally obliged to do. The CBA results demonstrate that the benefits outweigh the costs in the two case studies, and hence that restoration efforts are justified from an economic point of view. A sensitivity analysis shows that the main results and conclusions do not change when we change some of the key assumptions underlying the CBA.

This study investigates choice certainty, choice consistency, and choice monotonicity and their underlying common and idiosyncratic determinants in discrete choice experiments. We test the equality of choice behaviour between respondents who differ with respect to these concepts. Our results suggest that there are significant differences in the choice behaviour between certain and uncertain, as well as consistent and inconsistent, respondents. The hypothesis of equality of choice behaviour between samples with and without a self-reported choice certainty follow-up question cannot be rejected. We identify a variety of idiosyncratic determinants of choice certainty, consistency, and monotonicity, but only the time spent reading informational pages and gender are identified as common drivers. We find that female respondents are less certain about their choices, but display a higher degree of monotonicity and consistency in their choice behaviour.

A novel discrete choice experiment (DCE) design allows testing of substitution effects based on the framing of, and distances to, substitute sites. The same ecosystem services and biodiversity provided at different sites are valued independently in single- site DCEs and simultaneously in a multiple- site DCE, using an identical experimental design. Site-specific utility functions are estimated with and without controlling for spatial preference heterogeneity. Framing choices as alternative projects at single or multiple sites significantly influences substitutability between sites, choice behavior, and welfare estimates. Distance decay displays significant heterogeneity in different directions from the valued sites and between urban and rural areas.

In densely populated areas, surface waters are affected by many sources of pollution. Besides classical pollutants like nutrients and organic matter that lead to eutrophication, micropollutants from various point- and non-point sources are getting more attention by water quality managers. For cost-effective management an integrated assessment is needed that takes into account all relevant pollutants and all sources of pollution within a catchment. Due to the difficulty of identifying and quantifying sources of pollution and the need for considering long-term changes in boundary conditions, typically substantial uncertainty exists about the consequences of potential management alternatives to improve surface water quality. We therefore need integrated assessment methods that are able to deal with multiple objectives and account for various sources of uncertainty.
This paper aims to contribute to integrated, prospective water management by combining a) multi-criteria decision support methods to structure the decision process and quantify preferences, b) integrated water quality modelling to predict consequences of management alternatives accounting for uncertainty, and c) scenario planning to consider uncertainty from potential future climate and socio-economic developments, to evaluate the future cost-effectiveness of water quality management alternatives at the catchment scale. It aims to demonstrate the usefulness of multi-attribute value functions for water quality assessment to i) propagate uncertainties throughout the entire assessment procedure, ii) facilitate the aggregation of multiple objectives while avoiding discretization errors when using categories for sub-objectives, iii) transparently communicate the results. We show how to use such multi-attribute value functions for model-based decision support in water quality management.
We showcase the procedure for the Mönchaltorfer Aa catchment on the Swiss Plateau. We evaluate ten different water quality management alternatives, including current practice, that tackle macro- and micropollutants from a wide spectrum of agricultural and urban sources. We evaluate costs and water quality effects of the alternatives under four different socio-economic scenarios for the horizon 2050 under present and future climate projections and visualize their uncertainty. While the performance of alternatives is catchment specific, the methods can be transferred to other places and other management situations. Results confirm the need for cross-sectoral coordination of different management actions and interdisciplinary collaboration to support the development of prospective strategies to improve water quality.

This study tests the temporal stability of preferences, choices and willingness to pay (WTP) values using both discrete choice experiment (DCE) and open-ended (OE) WTP elicitation formats. The same sample is surveyed three times over the course of two years using each time the same choice sets. Choice consistency is positively correlated with choice certainty and choice complexity. The impact of choice complexity fades away in time, most likely as a result of learning and preference refinement. Although the OE WTP values remain stable over a time period of 2 years as in previous stated preference studies, DCE based WTP measures differ significantly, suggesting their use in benefits transfer may be limited.

In stated preference research focusing on the elicitation of willingness to pay for reducing environmental or health risks, it is of crucial importance how risk is communicated to survey respondents. This study applies a split-sample approach to examine the effect of using a risk ladder on choice behavior, welfare estimates and choice certainty in a stated discrete choice experiment. It values the improvement of water quality in Switzerland in terms of the reduction in environmental and public health risks that would result from implementing new wastewater treatment technologies that substantially reduce micropollutant discharges into water bodies. Results show that the risk ladder significantly influences respondents’ choice behavior and welfare estimates, but not choice certainty. We find evidence of preference learning.

The "Swiss Energy Strategy 2050" proposes to phase-out nuclear power generation and expand renewable sources of energy. Hydropower, an established source of energy in Switzerland, is expected to be one of the key renewables that will be further expanded. In this policy context, this PhD thesis aims to test axioms and assumptions underlying microeconomic choice theory by applying discrete choice experiments (DCE). A DCE is conducted among a representative sample of Swiss respondents and elicits their preferences for an expansion of hydropower. This dissertation contributes to the existing literature by examining how public preferences for expanding hydropower production are linked to public perception of (avoiding) nuclear risks. To this end, hydropower as well as nuclear risks are included in the DCE.
This thesis begins with a quantitative meta-analysis of the existing stated preference literature that estimates the non-market values of hydropower externalities. The results of the meta-analysis are used as inputs in designing the DCE. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that deteriorations in vegetation, landscape, and wildlife are valued negatively, while there is only limited evidence for a significant positive willingness-to-pay (WTP) for mitigating these negative externalities. The avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions proves to exert a significant positive influence on welfare estimates, but no significant impacts on aesthetic and recreational amenities can be detected. The meta-analysis also reveals that no stated preference studies so far have considered the link between preferences for renewable sources of energy and nuclear risks.
The data obtained from the DCE are used to answer this dissertation’s main research questions. These focus on the standard choice-theory assumptions of certain and known preferences and the axioms of continuity and monotonicity. Furthermore, the role of multiple reference points in the framework of prospect theory is investigated.
More specifically, the common and idiosyncratic determinants of choice certainty, consistency, and monotonicity are investigated. In contrast to the existing literature, these three concepts are analyzed simultaneously based on the same sample of respondents. The results show that there are significant differences between the choice behavior of certain and uncertain respondents as well as between consistent and inconsistent respondents. Moreover, gender and choicetask complexity prove to be common predictors of choice certainty, consistency, and monotonicity.
This thesis also investigates the standard economic axiom of continuous preferences in the context of attribute-non-attendance (ANA). A novel methodology to assess ANA is presented based on the monitoring of the respondents’ visual information acquisition process using mouse-tracking. No significant model improvement is found when including such a visual measure of ANA compared with the standard approach based on stated ANA information. Nevertheless, choice models based on visual ANA result in a slight improvement over choice models that do not take ANA into account and over choice models that use inferred ANA information.
Finally, the dependence of preferences on (multiple) reference points, a key assumption in prospect theory, is tested. Non-status quo related reference points, associated with comparative risks shown on risk ladders, are expected to affect parameter estimates and welfare measures for a change in hydropower and nuclear risk. The study confirms the importance of multiple reference points, and shows that, besides the status quo, these other reference points also influence respondents’ choices and welfare measures in DCEs.
The results of this thesis support the need for a holistic view on energy policy accounting for the direct and indirect externalities of alternative energy sources in both research and policy.

We conducted a choice experiment (CE) to estimate willingness to accept (WTA) values for a planned conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme designed to increase toilet use in South Africa. The payment is made conditional on using a toilet and bringing urine to a central collection point. In a split-sample approach, a segment of respondents were given time to think (TTT) (24 hours) about their responses, while the remaining respondents had to answer immediately. We found significant differences in the choice behaviour between the subsamples. To validate the stated preferences with actual behaviour, a CCT programme was implemented afterwards. The stated WTA estimates were far below those revealed by actual behaviour for both subsamples. Contrary to our expectations, the TTT group had underestimated their actual WTA values by an even larger margin. The preferences for various attributes were nevertheless useful in informing the design of the real intervention.

This paper presents a meta-analysis of existing research related to the economic valuation of the external effects of hydropower. A database consisting of 81 observations derived from 29 studies valuing the non-market impacts of hydropower electricity generation is constructed with the main aim to quantify and explain the economic values for positive and negative hydropower externalities. Different meta-regression model specifications are used to test the robustness of significant determinants of non-market values, including different types of hydropower impacts. The explanatory and predictive power of the estimated models is relatively high. Whilst controlling for sample and study characteristics, we find significant evidence for public aversion towards deteriorations of landscape, vegetation and wildlife caused by hydropower projects. There is however only weak evidence of willingness to pay for mitigating these effects. The main positive externality of hydropower generation, the avoidance of greenhouse gas emission, positively influences welfare estimates when combined with the share of hydropower in national energy production. Sensitivity to scope is detected, but not linked to specific externalities or non-market valuation methods.

This study presents the first quantitative meta-analysis of the non-market valuation literature on the external effects associated with wind power production. A data set of 60 observations drawn from 32 studies is constructed. The relative economic values of different types of externalities as well as the impact of various methodological and sample characteristics on welfare estimates are examined. The results indicate a significant effect of visual externalities on welfare estimates in both directions, i.e., a positive effect of visual improvements and a negative effect of deteriorations. This finding corresponds to predictions of the importance of visual impacts in the social science literature. External effects of wind power on biodiversity (mainly birds) do not affect welfare estimates. Indirect externalities caused by conventional sources of electricity that can be avoided by wind power, such as a the reduction of air pollution, do neither have a significant impact on welfare measures. Methodologically, we find substantial but inelastic income effects and, for choice experiments, clear evidence of sensitivity to scope. From a policy point of view, our results suggest that a policy mix combining a promotion of wind turbines with another green policy facilitates expansion of wind energy.

In this paper, linear and spatial hedonic price models are applied to the housing market in Switzerland, covering all 26 cantons in the country over the period 2005–2010. Besides structural house, neighborhood and socioeconomic characteristics, we include a wide variety of new environmental characteristics related to water to examine their role in explaining variation in sales prices. These include water abundance, different types of water bodies, the recreational function of water, and water disamenity. Significant spatial autocorrelation is found in the estimated models, as well as nonlinear effects for distances to the nearest lake and large river. Significant effects are furthermore found for water abundance and the distance to large rivers, but not to small rivers. Although in both linear and spatial models water related variables explain less than 1% of the price variation, the distance to the nearest bathing site has a larger marginal contribution than many neighborhood-related distance variables. The housing market shows to differentiate between different water related resources in terms of relative contribution to house prices, which could help the housing development industry make more geographically targeted planning activities.

Water policies are often evaluated primarily on the basis of their financial (budgetary) costs, as these can be assessed relatively easily. The calculation of all costs and benefits, including second-order indirect effects on sectors and non-priced environmental effects, often also referred to as the broader social costs and benefits, is a more difficult task. Social cost-benefit analysis is a widely applied method for evaluating public water policies, since government interventions are often related to the provision of public goods, having an impact on society as a whole. Such impacts should consequently be valued and evaluated from a societal perspective, not the perspective of the investor only such as a central or local government or a private company. Restored or 'natural' river corridors typically have the potential to provide a wide range of ecosystem services. It is the wider social value attached to these ecosystem services besides their ecological value that is often missing in information supply supporting river restoration policy and decision-making.
The report provides an overview of existing guidelines and manuals related to the assessment of costs and benefits of river restoration. Although there exist many costbenefit analysis handbooks, there are not many related specifically to river restoration. This report aims to fill this gap, and focuses on the specific characteristics of the estimation of costs and benefits related to river restoration. The report discusses the classification and assessment of costs and benefits of river restoration, and develops a benefits transfer approach that can be used to assess benefits when it is not possible to carry out primary valuation research. Key methodological issues in a CBA of river restoration are identified, discussed and illustrated. The report provides a number of practical recommendations to practitioners.

We provide critical notes to the paper by Kallis et al. (2013) on monetary valuation. We evaluate the four criteria they propose for assessing valuation studies. We argue that no clear distinction is made between monetary valuation and pricing instruments. The selected criteria are more relevant to assessing policy than monetary valuation. The examples provided are not representative of the diversity of valuation studies encountered in the literature. Moreover, no clear examples are provided of where valuation and associated cost–benefit analysis of environmental policy go wrong. We plea for a more fair, constructive and consistent criticism of all "valuation languages" and offer relevant issues for consideration.

Welchen Wert misst die Bevölkerung der Elimination von Mikroverunreinigungen in den Kläranlagen zu? Aus den Antworten von 1000 Deutschschweizern und Deutschschweizerinnen wurde der wirtschaftliche Nutzen des Ausbaus von Abwasserreinigungsanlagen abgeleitet. Der Vergleich mit den veranschlagten Kosten zeigt, dass der Ausbau in der Schweiz gerechtfertigt ist.

The costs of natural hazards around the world are rising. While the number of events reported in the last 10 years has decreased slightly, the number of affected people and their related costs is increasing, indicating also an augmented exposure and vulnerability of humankind to natural hazards (see Figures 4.1.1 and 4.1.2, EM-DAT 2013, IPCC 2012). Some outstanding events in the last decade in terms of their economic damage were, for example, the Tsunami in Japan in 2011 with damages of around US$ 210 billion, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (US$125 billion), the Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008 (US$85 billion), the floods in Thailand in 2011 (US$40 billion) and the drought in the US in 2012 which caused damage of more than US$20 billion (EM-DAT 2013, Munich Re, 2006, Munich Re, 2012, Munich Re, 2013). [...]

Contamination of freshwater with micropollutants (MPs) is a growing concern worldwide. Even at very low concentrations, MPs can have adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and possibly also on human health. Switzerland is one of the first countries to start implementing a national policy to reduce MPs in the effluents of municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs). This paper estimates the benefits of upgrading STPs based on public’s stated preferences. To assess public demand for the reduction of the environmental and health risks of MPs, we conducted a choice experiment in a national online survey. The results indicate that the average willingness to pay per household is CHF 100 (US$ 73) annually for reducing the potential environmental risk of MPs to a low level. These benefits, aggregated over households in the catchment of the STPs to be upgraded, generate a total annual economic value of CHF 155 million (US$ 113 million). This compares with estimated annual costs for upgrading 123 STPs of CHF 133 million (US$ 97 million) or CHF 86 (US$ 63) per household connected to these STPs. Hence, a cost-benefit analysis justifies the investment decision from an economic point of view and supports the implementation of the national policy in the ongoing political discussion.

Predicted climate change is likely to increase beach erosion in the future, inducing higher costs of beach maintenance. Hence, additional funds for their protection will be required. We examine the willingness to pay (WTP) of beach visitors for preventing beach erosion in the form of daily beach entrance fees in Crikvenica, Croatia, by applying the contingent valuation method. This is the first beach valuation study for this country in transition which has emerged as an important Mediterranean tourist destination. The novelty of our study is that it compares WTP estimates for an existing and a non-existing beach market. This is done by conducting a survey at the beach where an entrance fee is already levied and at the nearest open-access beach. Based on the initial (follow-up) valuation question, the stated WTP per adult per day for avoiding beach erosion equals €1.69 (€1.26) for the paid beach and €2.08 (€1.84) for the free beach. In addition, the travel cost method is employed. It reveals that consumer surpluses for visiting the paid and the free beach amount to €2.57 and €1.74, respectively.

Obstaja več načinov, kako lahko vključimo koncept trajnostnega razvoja v model hotelskega managementa. Na osnovi obstoječe teorije in praktičnih aplikacij smo te načine za potrebe empirične raziskave predstavljene v nadaljevanju monografije, združili v sedem različnih kategorij, in sicer:
• zeleno računovodstvo,
• kazalniki, pridobljeni iz koncepta trajnostnega razvoja po vzoru obstoječih mednarodnih modelov, kot so model UNWTO in UNEP, EU, VISIT,
• dobre prakse na področju indikatorjev trajnostnega razvoja,
• ekološki kodeksi,
• ekološki znaki, nagrade,
• okoljski standardi EMAS in ISO,
• odtis CO₂.
V nadaljevanju kratko predstavljamo vsakega od zgoraj naštetih načinov uvajanja ekološkega managementa in njegovo uporabnost na primeru hotelov.

This article examines available methods for assessing all types of drought costs, including both damage costs and costs arising from adopting policy measures to encourage mitigation of, and adaptation to, droughts. It first discusses damage costs, distinguishing between direct, indirect and non-market costs. Then it examines the suitability of existing methods for estimating drought costs in different economic sectors, their underlying theoretical assumptions, complementarity between different methods, and conditions relevant for their application. The latter include precision, ability to deal with future climate change risks, data needs and availability, and required financial and human resources. The article further considers potential policies for drought mitigation and adaptation and different cost types associated with them. It ends with providing recommendations for good practices regarding the use of methods as well as drought mitigation and adaptation policies.

This article examines the potential effects of peak oil on Spanish tourism and indirectly on the rest of the economy. We construct several scenarios of price increases in oil, related fossil fuels and their inflationary effects. These scenarios provide the context for an input–output (I/O) analysis which uses I/O tables extended with Tourism Satellite Accounts. The analysis comprises three steps: (1) applying an I/O price model to estimate the price change of tourism services in Spain due to an increase in the prices of oil and other fossil fuels; (2) assessing the effects of price changes on demand for tourism services; and (3) estimating the impacts of demand change on the country's economy using an I/O demand model. The results show that a decreased demand for tourism services results in the greatest fall in outputs in the tourism-related shares of air, water, land and railway transport sectors. These are followed by tourism agencies' activities, non-market recreational, cultural and sporting activities, restaurants, and hotels. Depending on the oil price scenario adopted, GDP (Gross domestic product) decreases between −0.08% and −0.38% and the number of jobs lost through direct and indirect effects varies between approximately 20,000 and 100,000.

Efficiently reducing natural hazard risks requires a thorough understanding of the costs of natural hazards. Current methods to assess these costs employ a variety of terminologies and approaches for different types of natural hazards and different impacted sectors. This may impede efforts to ascertain comprehensive and comparable cost figures. In order to strengthen the role of cost assessments in the development of integrated natural hazard management, a review of existing cost assessment approaches was undertaken. This review considers droughts, floods, coastal and Alpine hazards, and examines different cost types, namely direct tangible damages, losses due to business interruption, indirect damages, intangible effects, and the costs of risk mitigation. This paper provides an overview of the state-of-the-art cost assessment approaches and discusses key knowledge gaps. It shows that the application of cost assessments in practice is often incomplete and biased, as direct costs receive a relatively large amount of attention, while intangible and indirect effects are rarely considered. Furthermore, all parts of cost assessment entail considerable uncertainties due to insufficient or highly aggregated data sources, along with a lack of knowledge about the processes leading to damage and thus the appropriate models required. Recommendations are provided on how to reduce or handle these uncertainties by improving data sources and cost assessment methods. Further recommendations address how risk dynamics due to climate and socio-economic change can be better considered, how costs are distributed and risks transferred, and in what ways cost assessment can function as part of decision support.

Respondent uncertainty is often considered as one of the main limitations of stated preference methods, which are nowadays being widely used for valuing environmental goods and services. This article examines the effect of respondent uncertainty on welfare estimates by applying the contingent valuation method. This is done in the context of beach protection against erosion. Respondent certainty levels are elicited using a five-category polychotomous choice question. Two different uncertainty calibration techniques are tested, namely one that treats uncertain responses as missing and another in which uncertain 'yes' responses are recoded as 'no' responses. We found no evidence that the former technique offers any gains over the conventional model assuming certainty. The latter calibration technique systematically reduces welfare estimates. The reduction is statistically significant only when the most certain 'yes' responses are recoded as 'no' responses. The article further identifies determinants of respondent uncertainty. Finally, it explores how real market experience affects respondent uncertainty.