Despite its major importance in the urban environment, the problem of noise has received little attention from environmental economists. In this paper the economic value of a noise reduction programme is evaluated. The chosen technique is contingent valuation using the recently proposed one and one-half bound question format. This new question format reduces the potential for response bias in multiple bound formats such as the double bound model while maintaining much of its efficiency. Through the estimations it is found that urban residents generally value noise negatively, that is, households are willing to pay for a noise reduction. In particular, it is found that households are willing to pay approximately four euros per decibel per year. A further finding is that interviewees show scope sensitivity; that is, households display a different willingness to pay for different degrees of noise reduction, most are willing to pay more for larger decreases in the level of disturbance from noise.
Following the identification of sites of community importance (SCI) under the habitats directive (43/92 EEC), managing authorities are designing conservation plans to maintain and/or enhance the natural values of the sites. This paper presents both an estimate of the costs associated with the implementation of the management plan and an estimate of the compensation payments that will be established. This allows us to know whether including this area in Natura 2000 is profitable from an economic perspective and managing authorities to budget suff icient resources for implementing conservation plans. The paper ends with some considerations regarding the global cost of Natura 2000 network in Europe.
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