This important book sheds light on the ways in which modern tools of welfare economics can be used to assess the benefits and costs of resource conflicts involving hydropower. The chapters highlight key methodological issues in this area; ranging from the intersection between cost-benefit analysis and behavioral economics, to the value of load balancing services provided by hydropower. The inclusion of insights from expert contributors from both sides of the Atlantic brings a unique and interesting range of viewpoints to the work. Several factors suggest that resource conflicts involving moving water are likely to be even more difficult to resolve today than they have been in the past. The contributors, top scholars in resource economics, consider a variety of issues through the lens of cost-benefit analysis. In the first part of the book, they address specific cases and issues from North America and Europe. The book closes with a more general look at the topic. Academics and students interested in applied welfare economics, especially cost-benefit analysis and energy economics, along with government officials in the energy-environment nexus and private sector analysts will all find much of interest and value in this volume.
Contents: 1. Introduction Per-Olov Johansson and Bengt Kristrom 2. Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis and Water Quality Management Nick Hanley 3. Recreational Benefits of Removing Dams and Restoring Free Flowing Rivers: An Example Micro-Meta Analysis of the Contingent Visitation Benefits of Removing Dams John Loomis 4. A Blueprint for a Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Water Use Conflict. Hydroelectricity versus Other Uses Per-Olov Johansson and Bengt Kristrom 5. Estimation of WTP with Point and Self-selected Interval Responses Bo Ranneby and Jun Yu 6. Energy in a Bathtub: Electricity Trade Between Countries with Different Generation Technologies Finn Forsund 7. Renewable Energy Expansion and the Value of Balance Regulation Power Finn Forsund and Lennart Hjalmarsson 8. The Political Economy of Hydropower and Fish in the Western U.S. John Duffield 9. Does Behavioral Economics Have a Role for Benefit Cost Analysis? V. Kerry Smith and Eric M. Moore