Valuing Oil Spill Prevention: A Case Study of California's Central Coast [With CDROM]

This book documents a contingent valuation study for a significant environmental good: preventing the likely injuries from oil spills on the coast of Central California. It functions as a 'how-to' guide by documenting design, administration, and analysis of such studies, to reduce the long lead time which characterizes most economic damage assessments. The book includes a CD-ROM containing a wealth of additional material: data, questionnaires, transcripts and more.

On April 22-23, 1988, approximately 432,000 gallons of San Joaquin Valley crude oil spilled from an aboveground storage tank at a Shell Oil Company refinery into the surrounding environment, including the northern reaches of San Francisco Bay (the Martinez spill). Pursuant to the settlement of the resulting litigation (United States/California v. Shell Oil Co., No. C89-4220, (N.D. Cal1990)), Shell Oil Company provided funding for, among other things, studies to improve future response strategies to oil spills and ensure better restoration of resources and services affected by such spills. The California Oil Spill Contingent Valuation Study was one of the studies funded by the settlement. The purpose of the California Oil Spill (COS) Contingent Valuation (CV) Study was "to execute and document a contingent valuation study of natural resource damages associated with offshore, coastal, or estuarine oil spills in California" (State of California, Department of Justice, Contract Number 89-2126). The COS CV study developed an estimate of per household ex ante economic value for a program to prevent a specified set of natural resource injuries to those species of birds and intertidal life that are consistently affected by oil spills along California's Central Coast. The principal investigators on the COS study team were Richard T. Carson of the University of California, San Diego, and W. Michael Hanemann of the University of California, Berkeley. The study's project manager was Kerry M.

Preface.- Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview.- Chapter 2. Scenario Identification and Survey Design.- Chapter 3. Structure of the Main Survey Instrument.- Chapter 4. Implementation of the Main Study Survey.- Chapter 5. Evaluation of Open-Ended, Vote Assumption, Reconsideration, and Interviewer Evaluation Questions.- Chapter 6. Analysis of Choice Questions.- References.- Appendix A. Main Study Survey Instrument.- A.1. Word Version (CD only).- A.2. WordPerfect Version (CD only).- A.3. PDF Version (book & CD).- A.4. Visual Aids PDF File (book & CD).- Appendix B. Sample Design and Execution (CD Only).- B.1. Household Screener, Missed DU Procedure/Screener Handcards.- B.2. Initial Contact Q&A and Supervisor Memorandum.- B.3. Edit Form.- B.4. Validation Form.- B.5. Advance Letter.- B.6. Refusal Conversion Letters.- B.7. "Sorry I Missed You" and "No Hablo Espanol" Cards.- B.8. Interviewer Manual.- B.9. Sample Allocation and Completion Rates by PSU.- B.10. Sample Weights.- Appendix C. Survey Marginals (CD Only).- Appendix D. Coding Categories for Open-Ended Questions (Book Only).- Appendix E. Responses to Open-Ended Questions (CD Only).- E.1. Responses to Open-Ended Questions Sorted by Question by Case.- E.2. Responses to Open-Ended Questions Sorted by Case by Question.- Appendix F. Description of the Turnbull Non-Parametric Estimator (Book Only).- Appendix G. Recommended NOAA Panel Cross-Tabulations (CD Only).- Appendix H. Supplemental Analysis Tables (Book Only).- Appendix I. Comparative Analysis of the COS & EVOS Survey (Book Only).- Appendix J. Development Materials (CD Only).- J.1. Focus Group Transcripts.- J.2. Pilot Study Survey Instrument.- J.3. Pilot Study Dataset.- Appendix K. Main Study Dataset (CD Only).- K.1. Dataset.- K.2. Table 6.7 Variables and LIMDEP Program.- K.3. Stata Turnbull Estimator.- Appendix L. Response to Triangle Economic Research Critique (Book Only).- Index.