This article deals with the problem of item nonresponse in contingent valuation surveys using a payment-card method, by applying a grouped-data sample-selection estimation technique that is capable of imputing the missing values conditional upon a respondent's decision to answer a willingness-to-pay question. The advantage of the technique lies in its ability to utilize all of the information in the sample, permitting a more efficient estimation in the presence of item nonresponse bias. The major determinants of willingness to pay appear to be household income, number of children, education, perception of existing water quality, and identification with environmental issues. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.

The purpose of this paper is to explain changes in regional attractiveness as measured by the competitive component of the shift-share model. This is done by applying the shift-share model to the manufacturing sector in the province of Quebec andusing time series data for twenty two-digit industries as the basis of analysis. The study concludes that shift-share is useful for analyzing historical employment patterns and identifying their causes through regression analysis. However, the inherent structural instability limits the predictive potential of the model.he shift-share model has been the subject of considerable controversy. Views T have ranged from a complete rejection of the model as a tool designed for explaining and predicting regional economic growth to more supportive arguments suggesting that the model could in fact be operational if applied in light of models of maximising behaviour. The model has been criticised on the basis of theoretical context (Houston 1967) and ability to predict and even describe regional economic growth (Brown 1969). However, more recent studies (Hellman 1976, Chalmers and Beckhelm 1976, Andrikopoulos 1980) provide evidence in support of the model as a tool for analyzing, and to a certain extent, predicting regional development and growth. Essentially, these studies formulate testable hypotheses based on a priori theoretical criteria consistent with profit-maximising behaviour of the firm and to a lesser extent, utility-maximising objectives of the labour force.The objectives of this paper are: (1) to calculate the shift-share model for twenty two-digit industrial sectors in the province of Quebec using time series data;(2) to formulate and statistically test the competitive share hypothesis; and (3) to assess the forecasting potential of the shift-share model.The shift-share model and basic formulation of the behaviourial hypothesis for the competitive share are summarised in the second section, which is followed by A. Andrikopoulos, J . Brox, and E. Carvalho are associate professor, associate professor and assistant professor respectively, in economics at the University of Waterloo, Ontario,

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This paper reports the results of a large contingent valuation survey to estimate the social benefits of water quality improvements in the watershed. Early results indicate a willingness to pay (WTP) for residential water quality improvements of up to $4.50 per household per month (19% of the average water bill), with a somewhat lower value for preserving the environmental quality of parkland in the watershed. Using a 5% discount rate, this translates into a demand for water quality projects in the region with a capital value of nearly 91100 per household. The narrowness of the estimated range of WTP values, and their similarity to values found in other studies, suggests that our estimates are a reliable measure of the monetary value of social benefits from water quality improvements in the region. The main socioeconomic determinants of willingness to pay appear to be household income, number of children, perception of existing water quality, and awareness of environmental issues on the part of survey respondents. R6sum6 Cet article est un rapport pr6liminaire d'une vaste enqu6te sur la valorisation contingente auprds des habitants du bassin hydrographique de la riviere Grand au sud-ouest de Toronto. Ce sondage visait a estimer les avantages sociaux qui r6sulteraient des am6liorations de la qualit6 de l,eau du bassin. Les r6sultats p16liminaires indiquent qu'il parait que les enquot6s paient volontiers le prix d'am6liorer la qualit6 de l'eau potable, jusqu'd 4,509 par m6nage par mois (c,estd-dire 19% de la facture moyenne), et un prix quelque peu moins 6lev6 pour pr6server la qualit6 6cologique des parcs et des bois du bassin; ce qut, en utilisant un taux d'escompte de 5,k, se traduit dans la secteur d,enouOte en une demande des projets pour ameliorer la qualit6 d'eau d'une valeur du capital de presque 1100$ par m6nage. L'6troitesse de l'6tendue estim6e des valeurs de la bonne volont6 de payer et leur ressemblance avec les valeurs trouv6es dans d'autres recherches suggdrent que nos estimations donnent un mesure fiable de la valeur mon6taire des avantages sociaux qui r6sultent de l'am6lioration de la qualit6 de I'eau dans la r6gion. Les d6terminants principaux socio-6conomiques de la bonne volont6 de payer de la parl des enquot6s semblent 6tre: le revenu, le num6ro d'enfants, la perception de la qualit6 actuelle de l,eau, et la conscrence des questions 6cologiques. 1) Introduction This paper is a report on an attempt to Heritage River with the largest, urbanized measure willingness to pay (wTP) for watershed in southern ontario, draining water quality improvements in the Grand an area of approximately 7,000 km'z with River watershed. From a national perspeca population of over 600,000. The retive, the watershed is a relatively small gion's manufacturing base has eroded ecosystem , but it is also a canadian under industrial 'restructurino.'but the

This paper examines the relationship between Canadian public infrastructure and private output using a Constant Elasticity and Substitution-Translog (CES-TL) cost model to describe the interaction of the public and private sectors. We find public capital a substitute for private capital within the Canadian manufacturing sector. Additionally, the services of public capital enhance the productivity of private capital. Canadian manufacturing costs are characterized by economies of scale, indicating that less than optimal plant sizes dominated Canadian manufacturing sector during the study period. Advances in disembodied technical progress are also indicated.