V. Kerry Smith

Environmental economics studies the effects that environmental systems have on the positive predictions and normative recommendations of economic models. My research has investigated how people's constraints, the information, circumstances governing the availability of environmental resources, and characteristics of environmental resources influence what can be learned about people's values for changes in these resources. It considers both use and existence values for them. The former arises from in situ activities, such as outdoor recreation. The latter concerns a preference to sustain specific natural assets independent of any prospects for direct use. This research has helped to establish that systematic measures can be derived for the tradeoffs people make in their housing choices, job decisions, recreational activities, and other behaviors to acquire enhancements in the environmental services. It also indicates that reliable tradeoff measures can be recovered from stated choices to enhance these resources.