Social Preference and Economic Value of Ecosystem Services of Rice Irrigated Agriculture : A Case Study in Northeast Thailand | |
| Author | Somsak Vivithkeyoonvong |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.NR-16-03 |
| Subject(s) | Ecosystem services--Economic aspects--Thailand--Northeast Rice--Irrigation--Thailand--Northeast |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Natural Resource Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. NR-16-03 |
| Abstract | In addition to producing food products, rice irrigated agricultureprovides important agricultural ecosystem services that contribute to societal wellbeing,but are often not taken into account by policy-makers. This study investigates social preferences for theseimportant functions and services, and assesses the economic valuation of market and non-market services provided byriceirrigated agriculturein a middle-income Asian country.There are three specific objectives: 1) to investigate the individualand social preferences for ecosystem services provided byriceirrigated agriculture, using a non-monetary valuation technique, analytical hierarchy process (AHP), 2) to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for the market and non-market services provided byriceirrigated agriculture, using a monetary valuation technique: Choice Experiment (CE), In both cases we evaluated the heterogeneity of preferences and values, and identified the socioeconomiccharacteristics, 3) we analyzed and compared the results betweenthetwo different approaches.Three focus groups and several pre-tests were held for gathering information, and used for the questionnaire design. A sample of 305 valid cases wasinterviewed in the Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast Thailand, using a stratified sampling method. The individual preferences were analyzedaccording to the AHP method. The findings indicated that social (averaged) preferences for the functions associated withriceirrigated agricultureincluded economic (32.8%), social (27.5%), environmental and regulating services (26.7%), as well as cultural and recreational services (13.0%). A cluster analysis was used to identify possible groups of homogenous preferences namely Agricultural Business oriented, Agricultural Production oriented, Environmentally-aware, and Socially-awareas well as investigated potential relationships with demographic and socioeconomicfactors. The variables age, agricultural working experience, household income, education, and occupation influenced therankings.The implicit prices of rice irrigated agricultural services were analyzedusing the CEmethod. Heterogeneity was modeled using two complementary types of models differing in the way they approach the population‘s heterogeneity, the random parameter conditional logit model (RPL)and the 2klatent class model. The results indicated that besides a market services, individuals are willing to pay (WTP) for non-market services. The WTP cost was estimated as follows: rice yield increasing (0.1 and 0.5 USD/kg), drought mitigation (13 and 16 USD/per cent reduction), maintain/enhance water quality standard (55-77 and 58 USD), and maintain agricultural way of life and rice landscape (65 and 106 USD). We estimated the compensating surpluses(CS) for contrasted changescenariorelative to the present situation. The consumer surplus for an increased capacity to mitigate droughts(a 10% increasein drought mitigated), maintain water quality at medium level and maintain rural lifestyle and rice landscapes wasabout 7,900THB/household/year. We also observed important heterogeneity in WTP that could be related to a respondent‘s income and place of residence. We assessedthe hypothesis that respondents may not consider all of the attributes, so-called ―attribute non-attendance (ANA)‖ applying a probabilistic decision process model, 2klatent class model. The 2klatent class model suggested six groups of non-attendance with significant probability. We comparedthe resultsfrom both approaches. Theysuggestsome correlation between patterns of group preferences and group of non-attendance behaviors. The relative importance and value of non-market services differ among the groups. Therefore, different groups are likely to advocate for different policies. Moreefforts are needed to obtain more empirical evidence and to contribute to the literature on thevalueof agricultural ecosystem services provided byriceirrigated agriculture. People have heterogeneous preferences and their preferences may vary among regions. Policy plan should be flexible and correspond with the context of demographics and socioeconomics of the region. People also recognize and value non-market services, therefore decision makers should take into account improving or enhancing non-market services. Considering society‘sdemand, decision makers have to balance and trade-offamong services without compromising agricultural ecosystem services. |
| Year | 2016 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. NR-16-03 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Jourdain, Damien; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Perret, Sylvain R.;Shivakoti, Ganesh;Sasaki, Nophea; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), Thailand; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2016 |