Maria L. Loureiro

University of Santiago de Compostela | USC · Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico

The health and environmental concerns of consumers increased their interest in organic wines. We conducted a fifth-price multi-product auction (simultaneous) among 300 regular red wine drinkers in Barcelona (Spain) to assess consumer’s preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for different typologies of red wine (conventional, organic and selected...

Consumers concern for health and environment increases their demand for more sustainable (organic) wines. We conducted a nonhypothetical discrete choice experiment and a wine tasting among 200 white wine drinkers to assess consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for wine with social and sustainable attributes. In particular, we test whether p...

In this paper, we assess the role of emotions in choices. We elicited emotions using an innovative facial expression analysis approach, comparing the results to those for a traditional hedonic rating scale. To this end, we conduct an experiment combing surveys and actual wine tasting. The results show a positive and significant relationship between...

Choice models (CM) are proposed in the field of tourism recommender systems (TRS) with the aim of providing algorithms with both a theoretical understanding of tourist's motivations and a certain degree of transparency. The goal of this work is to overcome some of the limitations of current state‐of‐art algorithms used in TRSs by providing: (1) acc...

Social media generates a significant amount of information in terms of perceptions, emotions, and sentiments. We present an economic analysis using the information provided by Twitter messages, describing impressions and reactions to wildfires occurring in Spain and Portugal. We use natural language processing techniques to analyze this text inform...

The European Union (EU) is a leading actor in climate international negotiations and a path-breaking example of sustainability. However, the EU’s current agenda on climate change has been built by disregarding essential features of this global process: accumulation of greenhouse gases over time, cascading regimen shifts within and across scales, an...

Technology transfer of LPG, biogas and improved cookstoves is a strategy that has been used to provide rural households around the world with clean energy to solve environmental and health problems. Despite the benefits that these technologies can offer, the level of adoption continues to be relatively low. Through a quantitative literature review...

The extractive industries, as the suppliers of essential raw materials, carry out activities that are fundamental to the development of modern societies. Therefore, how they are managed and administered is of the utmost importance. Optimizing these management procedures is often difficult, however, due to the highly specific nature of the extractio...

Climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic share many similarities. However, in the past months, concerns have increased about the fact the health emergency has put on hold during the pandemic many climate adaptation and mitigation policies. We focus our attention on understanding the role of the recent health emergency on the transmission of informa...

Benefit transfer is the use of pre-existing empirical estimates from one or more settings where research has been conducted previously to predict measures of economic value or related information for other settings. These transfers offer a feasible means to provide information on economic values when time, funding and other constraints impede the u...

Scientific discoveries can be classified as public goods. Arrow [1] discussed properties of knowledge that make it a public good; highlighting in particular, the fact that it cannot be depleted when shared, and once it is made public others cannot easily be excluded from its use. So, public good is a commodity or service that is provided without pr...

In this paper we assess the sentiments and emotions related to climate change in the U.K. and Spain during the first six months of 2019, and how these relate to different preferences and concerns about energy policies. In doing so, we analyze Twitter messages related to climate change occurring in both countries, using natural language processing (...

Recent data show that fire concentration is becoming rather predominant in Southern European areas. Specifically, 2017–2018 were some of the worst years on record for fires in Europe. We conduct a survey among households in order to understand citizens' preferences towards fire prevention programs in Spain, aiming to reduce the occurrence of megafi...

El calentamiento global es el resultado del continuo aumento de la concentración de los gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) 1 en la atmósfera. Entre los principales GEI (H2O2, N2O, CH4, O3), el dióxido de carbono (CO2) producido principalmente por la combustión de combustibles es el mayor contribuyente al cambio climático. Por sector, el transporte e...

The optimization of energy use is a growing concern in the commercial sector, particularly for retailers, given its relevance within total expenses and the increasing scrutiny of environmental performance indicators. In this paper, we conduct a field experiment (randomized control trial) in a major multinational company to test how information prov...

Global market for organically grown wine is growing rapidly and winemakers need to better understand consumer perception, attitudes, and purchase intention towards this typology of wine to respond to the worldwide trend. The present work aimed to inform and to assist them assessing consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for three different r...

This study evaluated the influence on consumers’ wine choices and willingness to pay of taste, image of wine bottle (color and label), and the provision of information on the production system (environmental and public health benefits) and winery's social activities. Results derived from a discrete choice experiment showed that consumers were willi...

A labelled discrete choice experiment (DCE) combined with a blinded wine tasting was conducted among 180 Catalans red wine drinkers to assess their preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for three different wines: conventional, organic, and selected vintage organic wines in the context of habitual purchase. The DCE was carried out before and afte...

With the aim of analyzing preferences for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), two stated preference methods (a contingent valuation exercise and a discrete choice experiment (DCE)) were used in a survey conducted in a representative sample of Spanish drivers. Overall, our findings show robustness between the willingness to pay (WTP) estimates elicited...

We assessed red wine drinkers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional, organic, and selected vintage organic wines in the context of habitual purchase. Moreover, we measured wine evoked emotions and tested whether these emotions influence consumers’ purchase intentions, actual purchases, and WTP. Furthermore, we tested for hypoth...

Os incendios forestais son un dos maiores problemas ambientais aos que se está a afrontar o sur de Europa dada a virulencia que están a alcanzar nestes últimos anos. Ante esta situación, é importante levar a cabo unha valoración económica de alcance, que considere ademáis dos custos directos o impacto sufrido como consecuencia da perda dos servizos...

Aim of study: To analyze the factors that motivate the sharing of a contribution to a common pool resource (CPR).Area of study: We obtained data from Galicia communal forests during 2013-2014. Material and methods: A survey among forest owners in which questions about decisions, mimicking those in public good games, were included. In addition, the...

In order to analyze preferences for various management options at the Atlantic Islands National Park in Spain, a stated choice survey was carried out. The complexity of responses and the identification of a wide variety of heterogeneous preferences and motivations were studied through the analysis of follow up questions. The application of a latent...

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) could be a good short term option to help achieve global targets regarding road transport greenhouse gas emissions. Several common and country-specific public policies based on price or tax rebates are established in order to encourage the adoption of HEVs. The present research empirically assesses market preferences...

In Mexico, agriculture's main environmental problems are related to water resources, deforestation and soil erosion. These problems are more acute in arid or semiarid regions such as in the state of Zacatecas. Environmental management systems (EMS) can be an alternate means for improving environmental conditions. In this study, factors that determi...

Marine ecological change is likely to have serious potential economic consequences for coastal economies all over the world. This article reviews the current literature on the economic impacts of marine ecological change, as well as a number of recent contributions to this literature carried out under the VECTORS project. We focus on three main typ...

Ostrom (1990) has argued that in collective action problems, social factors are crucial in order to promote conservation. A survey instrument among shellfish gatherers has been used to analyse their preferences with respect to a proposed conservation management programme, assessing the effect of co-management initiatives and the impact of social no...

The shellfish sector suffers from overexploitation of many species. The aim of this paper is to analyze through a discrete choice experiment (DCE) the preferences of shellfish gatherers with respect to a proposed recovery program; assessing the role of time preferences and the impact of illegal harvesting. In terms of time preferences, results show...

The trans-disciplinary thematic areas of oceans management and policy require stocktaking of the state of knowledge on ecosystem services being derived from coastal and marine areas. Recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially Goals 14 and 15 explicitly focus on this. This Handbook brings together a carefully chosen set of worl...

This report presents a synthesis and integration of the key findings of the socio-economic valuation presented in the Technical Report which was completed in 2015, which is available in Spanish at the web site (http://www.ecomilenio.es). Overall, twelve ecosystem services have been valued using three main techniques: (1) a meta-analysis of the stud...

We analyze the type of communal forest owners' management practices through a survey in Northern Spain. In particular, we test whether the Principles of Collective Action (PCA) postulated by Ostrom (1990) are being followed in a sample of communal forests. Second, we study whether such principles derive in better forest management practices and con...

It is widely acknowledged that landscape features can play a major role in determining tourism demand. The present article assesses the impact of vinery landscape and high-quality wine production on regional tourism flows in Tuscany, an important tourist region in Italy and renowned for its enchanting countryside. Thus, vinery landscape and high-qu...

Marine ecological change is likely to have serious potential economic consequences for coastal economies all over the world. This article reviews the current literature on the economic impacts of marine ecological change, as well as a number of recent contributions to this literature carried out under the VECTORS project. We focus on three main typ...

Forest ecosystems are playing an increasingly important role in climate change mitigation through programs on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), which targets carbon sequestration. However, decades of environmental valuation studies evidence the economic benefits of other forest ecosystem services different than ca...

We analyzed the state of the art in research on the economic valuation of ecosystem services in Spain. A review of 150 publications was conducted and included 649 economic value estimates. The results showed an increase in the number of scientific studies on the economic valuation of ecosystem services and a dissimilar distribution across regions....

Deceptive experimental practices are banned in some professions but are standard in others. Recently, the journals of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association introduced guidelines that allow researchers to publish articles that use some forms of deception. However, in their present form, these guidelines leave room for interpretation. Th...

The ecosystem services (ES) framework opens the door to common ground between ecology science and economics in facing the challenge of planetary sustainability. Application of the available methodologies and instruments reveals both the high potential and the controversies related to this new socio-ecological management approach. Feeding on the res...

Aim of study: The goal of this paper is to analyse the importance of the main contributing factors to the occurrence of wildfires. Area of study: We employ data from the region of Galicia during 2001-2010; although the similarities shared between this area and other rural areas may allow extrapolation of the present results. Material and Methods: T...

Aim of study: The goal of this paper is to analyse the importance of the main contributing factors to the occurrence of wildfires. Area of study: We employ data from the region of Galicia during 2001-2010; although the similarities shared between this area and other rural areas may allow extrapolation of the present results. Material and Methods:...

A choice experiment is undertaken to elicit preferences of scuba divers in the Marine Protected Area of Medes Islands (Spain). This is the first non-market valuation study of a typical Mediterranean habitat, the Coralligenous, which is characterized by high biodiversity, geomorphologic complexity and iconic species like gorgonians. This habitat is...

Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be...

The steady decline of birds living in cereal steppe lands is a worrying situation that the European Common Agricultural Policy is attempting to remedy through the application of agri-environmental schemes (AES). We assess farmers' preferences towards these AES, which call for a number of environmental practices to protect birds. Using a face-to-fac...

Many applied economics journals ban the use of deception in experiments, which contrasts with the policies in other academic disciplines. We examine the cases for and against deception, and describe the ways deception can be employed in applied economics experiments. We create a general ranking of harms from deception in experiments and present evi...

The present study provides a review of existing assessments of preferences for climate change mitigation and adaptation policies through a worldwide meta-analysis. In this study, we analyze the impact of social values and norms on preferences towards climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. In a sample of 58 international studies, we foun...

The shellfish sector in a clear example of worldwide over-exploitation. In this study, our aim is to analyze through a choice experiment (CE) the preferences of the own fishers with respect to a proposed conservation management program, assessing in this context, the role of time preferences, social norms and economic incentives. With regards to ti...

Quick recovery of the affected areas after a wildfire is important in order to restore the production of the various ecosystem services. We develop a theoretical valuation model that contains a forest insurance policy, in order to protect the landowner against total or partial losses caused by wildfires. Restoration costs of affected areas are expl...

With global media reporting major environmental disasters, environmental damages linked to large oil spills may go well beyond the territorial limits of affected countries, particularly in the case of passive use values. In this analysis, we compare environmental damages linked a large oil spill off the coast of Spain using an online contingent val...

Transport is essential for the control of future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and thus a target for active policy intervention in the future. Yet, social preferences for policies are likely to play an important role. In this paper we first review the existing literature on preferences regarding low-GHG car fuels, but also covering policy instrume...

Assessing the economic damages and their temporal dimension caused by oil spills is very important. In the present paper, we analyze the stigma effect caused in fish markets, in the North West coast of Spain (Galicia) after the Prestige oil spill. Specifically, we focus on pelagic fish species which represent a relevant market share in Galicia. The...

he steady decline of birds living in steppes is a worrying situation that the European Commission is attempting to remediate through the application of agri-environmental schemes (AES). The aim of this study is to assess farmers’ preferences towards these AES, which call for a number of harvesting restrictions in order to protect birds. We conducte...

a b s t r a c t Scope insensitivity is a popular anomaly in many valuation studies. Although scope insen-sitivity is a problem that may be present in any valuation method, most previous literature has focused on evaluating scope sensitivity within the context of contingent valuation applications. Nevertheless, it is necessary to understand the dema...

Not much attention has been given to protest responses in choice experiments (CE). Using follow-up statements, we are able to identify protest responses and compute welfare estimates with and without the inclusion of such protest responses. We conclude that protest responses are fairly common in CE, and their analysis affects the statistical perfor...

Oil spills cause major damage to both a wide range of economic sectors and the environment. It is therefore important to anticipate the potential damage caused by these types of disasters, which can occur under many different and unpredictable circumstances. In this paper we study the main determining factors of the damage caused by oil spills, foc...

Los incendios forestales devastaron amplias áreas forestales en Galicia durante los últimos años, registrándose el episodio más catastrófico en 2006. Ese año destaca por la alta intencionalidad que registró la ocurrencia de incendios, por lo que se plantea la necesidad de localizar los factores espaciales y socioeconómicos que expliquen esa inciden...

The selection of an appropriate forest management program is an arduous task in which opinions and information are shared. In this research, we have tried to facilitate this process by applying the Best–Worst Scaling (BWS) method in order to discriminate among the various management alternatives and to identify the management preferences stated by...

Rasmusen (1996) has shown that inmates not only suffer public penalties but also economic and social stigma. In this article, we analyse the economic consequences of imprisonment which can be identified as lower wages and difficulty in re‐entering the labour market. Analysing data from a German survey, we find that having been in prison reduces the...

This analysis provides an example of how biodiversity can be measured by means of different indicators, and how the latter can be used to assess the influence of the biodiversity profile of a region on the tourism flows towards it. Domestic Irish tourist flows have been chosen as a case study. Results show that most of the biodiversity and landscap...

This study examines the relationship between nutritional label use and obesity using switching regression. Results for treatment effect show that nutritional labels play a role in reducing obesity among users of nutritional labels, notably among women. The average body mass index (BMI) for men who read nutritional labels is 0.12 point lower than me...

El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar la relevancia de los múltiples factores socio-económicos, agrarios y ambientales en la ocurrencia de los incendios forestales en Galicia. Los modelos econométricos presentados analizan el número de incendios ocurridos así como el número de hectáreas quemadas, en función de los múltiples factores indicados. A...

It is widely acknowledged that landscape features can play a major role in determining tourism demand. The analysis presented in this work aims at assessing the impact of agricultural landscape and high-quality wine production on regional tourism flows. This paper focuses on Tuscany, a major touristy region in Italy renowned for its pleasant climat...

Loureiro assesses total damage by conducting sectorial economic analysis, focusing on fisheries damages, reputation and image losses of fisheries and shellfish sectors, recreational and tourism losses, environmental losses and health effects. The linkages between ecological and economic damages are represented for each affected sector in addition t...

The goal of this research is to analyze the importance of the main factors contributing to the occurrence of wildfires in Galicia. The econometric models are specified taking into account as a dependent variable the number of fires and affected area, while these depend on a number of explanatory variables, including climatic and socio-economic char...

The aim of this article is to determine consumers’ valuation for an EU Animal Welfare (EU-CAW) Label for products providing higher animal welfare standards than the current legal requirements. Using revealed preference data from random nth price auction mechanism and two auction procedures, our results generally suggest that consumers are willing t...

Due to the importance of comparability and external validity of results, nonhypothetical experimental methods are increasingly used to elicit consumers’ willingness to pay for various goods. Two of the increasingly popular preference elicitation methods are the nonhypothetical choice experiments and experimental auctions. We conduct experiments to...

Forest owners face multiple risks in their production process, which can reduce the value of the forestry products, being wildfires one of these risks. Although fire insurance for real estate owners is popular and it is frequent in some agricultural crops, the development a forestry production insurance scheme accounting for wildfire risks has been...

The current threats to forest are important and varied. Forest fires, deforestation, conversion of forests to agricultural lands, invasive species and exotic pest are some of the main problems. Also, the contribution to C02 emissions derived from forest fires is very significant and an important concern in the last years. Different attempts to amel...

Insensitivity to scope is an issue of much debate in contingent valuation (CV) even today. Although the literature about insensitivity to scope is abundant, the reasons for it are not yet well known. Through a meta-analysis of CV studies of biodiversity, the treatment of the different possible measures of the quantity of the good is explored in rel...

Spain faces a complex situation regarding its climate change policies. On the one hand, greenhouse gas emissions have shown an important increase since 1990, being far from the Kyoto commitments. On the other hand, Spain is likely to suffer important impacts from climate change. However, there has been a rather limited application of corrective pol...

Many research papers analyze forest fires with respect to physical or meteorological characteristics of the burned areas, although not many pay attention to the socio-economic fac-tors that affect the occurrence of forest fires. To fill in this gap in the literature, this work analyzes the impact of socio-economic variables that affect fires occurr...

In this work we investigate the effects of entreaties to reduce the disparity between willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept (WTA) estimates in the valuation of a public program. We find that entreaties are very effective on reducing the hypothetical bias inherent to the WTA estimates, as well as the gap between both WTP and WTA welfare...

Muchos trabajos relacionan la acción del fuego con las aptitudes físicas o meteorológicas de la zona, pero no inciden en aquellos condicionantes de tipo socioeconómicos que afectan a la ocurrencia de incendios. A raíz de este hueco en la literatura, este trabajo analiza el impacto de variables socioeconómicas que afectan a la propagación de los inc...

Este trabajo recoge los principales resultados de un estudio realizado para obtener la disponibilidad a pagar y las actitudes de las familias gallegas y españolas ante diversas alter-nativas de políticas de mitigación de los efectos del cambio climático. En el artículo se demues-tra que las sociedades española y gallega consideran el cambio climáti...

Este trabajo recoge los principales resultados de un estudio realizado para obtener la disponibilidad a pagar y las actitudes de las familias gallegas y españolas ante diversas alternativas de políticas de mitigación de los efectos del cambio climático. En el artículo se demuestra que las sociedades española y gallega consideran el cambio climático...

Not much attention has been given to protest responses in choice experiments (CE). Using follow-up statements, we are able to identify protest responses and compute welfare estimates with and without the inclusion of such protest responses. We conclude that protest responses are fairly common in CE, and their analysis affects the statistical perfor...

The current reduction in commercial fish stocks is a problem of global concern. In response to this situation, administrations around the world are attempting to recover critical stocks by implementing new regulations based on catching restrictions and recovery plans. These restrictions have negative effects on local economies, but species recovery...