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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Selected Works

Utah State University

Arthur J. Caplan

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Measuring The Environmental Cost Of Hypocrisy, Arthur Caplan Dec 2014

Measuring The Environmental Cost Of Hypocrisy, Arthur Caplan

Arthur J. Caplan

This paper provides an example of howto estimate the marginal environmental cost of hypocrisy using revealed behavior and self-identification survey responses from coffee drinkers regarding their use of cardboard and plastic (i.e., non-reusable) cups. Coffee shops provide a convenient microcosm for assessing the impact of hypocritical behavior because of (1) readily available, cheap substitutes (i.e., reusable coffee cups), (2) a relatively accurate estimate of the environmental (in particular, carbon) cost associated with using non-reusable cups, and (3) the ability to delineate hypocritical behavior by observing a choice with relatively few potential confounding factors. Hypocritical behavior is measured as a geometric …

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Measuring The Value Of Plastic And Reusable Grocery Bags, Jarod Dunn, Arthur J. Caplan, Ryan Bosworth Jan 2014

Measuring The Value Of Plastic And Reusable Grocery Bags, Jarod Dunn, Arthur J. Caplan, Ryan Bosworth

Arthur J. Caplan

Using data from an online survey of grocery store customers in Logan, Utah, we estimate the marginal effects on willingness to pay (WTP) for continued use of plastic grocery bags, and the marginal effects on willingness to accept (WTA) for switching to reusable grocery bags. We find both non-parametric and parametric evidence suggesting that individuals respond quite dramatically to moderate plastic-bag tax rates and reusable-bag subsidy rates. All else equal, older and lower-to-middle income individuals, as well as larger-sized households, are more likely to switch to using reusable bags exclusively when faced with a tax on plastic bags. Lower-to-middle income …

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Measuring The Surplus Of Superficiality: The Case Of Dented Bumper Repair, Arthur Caplan Jan 2014

Measuring The Surplus Of Superficiality: The Case Of Dented Bumper Repair, Arthur Caplan

Arthur J. Caplan

This article uses data from a survey administered to 400 automobile owners in northern Utah to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for removal of a superficial dent in the bumper of a typical owner’s vehicle. A unique set of controls are used to estimate the determinants of WTP for this particular manifestation of superficiality. Both parametric and nonparametric measures of meanWTP are also derived. To the extent that a driver’s demand for superficiality represents a market failure, e.g., due to imperfect information, or, in a normative sense, the influence of wasteful social norms, our welfare measures represent estimates of the potential social …

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Benchmarking An Optimal Pattern Of Pollution Trading: The Case Of Cub River, Utah, Arthur Caplan, Yuya Sasaki Jan 2014

Benchmarking An Optimal Pattern Of Pollution Trading: The Case Of Cub River, Utah, Arthur Caplan, Yuya Sasaki

Arthur J. Caplan

This paper employs a recently developed, dynamic trading algorithm to establish a benchmark pattern of trade for a potential water quality trading (WQT) market in the Cub River sub-basin of Utah; a market that would ultimately include both point and nonpoint sources. The algorithm accounts for three complications that naturally arise in trading scenarios: (1) combinatorial matching of traders, (2) trader heterogeneity, and (3) discreteness in abatement technology. The algorithm establishes as detailed a reduced-cost benchmark as possible for the sub-basin by distinguishing a specific pattern of trade among would-be market participants. As such, the algorithm provides a benchmark against …

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Water Quality Trading In The Presence Of Abatement Cost Sharing, Arthur J. Caplan Jan 2013

Water Quality Trading In The Presence Of Abatement Cost Sharing, Arthur J. Caplan

Arthur J. Caplan

This paper examines how water quality trading interacts with nonpoint-source abatement cost sharing (e.g., as currently practiced by the National Resource Conservation Service through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)) to promote the participation of nonpoint sources in a water quality market; participation that has thus far been noticeably lacking nationwide. As such, an idealized version of water quality trading is envisioned, where water quality trading and nonpoint cost sharing are treated as complementary policy instruments rather than substitutes. Toward this end, the subgame-perfect equilibrium concept is used to model a \multilateral contracting" relationship between the regulatory authority and nonpoint …

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Using Field-Level Characteristics As Proxy Measures To Test For The Presence Of Economies Of Scale In Nonpoint Pollution Control, Arthur J. Caplan, John Gilbert, Devalina Chatterjee Jan 2013

Using Field-Level Characteristics As Proxy Measures To Test For The Presence Of Economies Of Scale In Nonpoint Pollution Control, Arthur J. Caplan, John Gilbert, Devalina Chatterjee

Arthur J. Caplan

We use parametric and nonparametric methods to estimate correlations between average control cost and three field-level characteristics—field size and delivered phosphorous per field and per acre—as proxies for economies of scale in controlling nonpoint pollution. We combine load and delivery-ratio estimates for more than 12,000 fields in the Bear River Basin, Utah, with estimates of control costs and effectiveness of management practices from the literature. Results suggest a negative relationship between control cost and delivered phosphorous per field and per acre. Ranking fields by phosphorous load therefore prioritizes management-practice subsidies by economies of scale.

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