Susana Ferreira

University of Georgia | UGA · Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Civil infrastructure will be essential to face the interlinked existential threats of climate change and rising resource demands while ensuring a livable Anthropocene for all. However, conventional infrastructure planning largely neglects the contributions and maintenance of Earth’s ecological life support systems, which provide irreplaceable servi...

Outbreaks of African filoviruses often have high mortality, including more than 11,000 deaths among 28,562 cases during the West Africa Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016. Numerous studies have investigated the factors that contributed to individual filovirus outbreaks, but there has been little quantitative synthesis of this work. In addition, the ways i...

Individuals’ life satisfaction varies widely across countries. Differences in income explain a large part of this variation, but not all. The purpose of this study is to identify the country-level determinants, in addition to income, that best explain life satisfaction, with the objective of understanding how a country’s policies and developmental...

The Upper Chattahoochee Watershed supplies most of the drinking water to the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, a region with one of the fastest urban growth rates in the United States. Smart conservation planning is necessary to conciliate urban development and the provision of critical ecosystem services (ESs) such as water quality, carbon storage, and w...

Understanding what factors play a role in people’s decisions to travel during a pandemic is important to public health officials and to stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry in the United States (US) and worldwide. This study examines factors influencing people’s decisions to cancel/postpone recreational travel within the US amidst the CO...

Infrastructure must become more resilient as the global climate changes and also more affordable in the economic and political context of a post-COVID world. We can solve this dual challenge and drive global infrastructure investment into a more sustainable direction by taking our cues from Nature.

The transition from a centrally planned socialist economy to free markets brought unprecedented economic growth to Mongolia, but also severe environmental problems associated with rapid urban development. Its capital city Ulaanbaatar has experienced extreme air pollution during the winter months for almost two decades. While the impacts of local ai...

Recent hydro-meteorological disasters have sparked popular interest in climate change and its role in driving these events. In this paper, we focus on the information provided by one such type of disaster, hurricanes, to capital markets. Because carbon dioxide emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are the primary contributor to greenhouse g...

Using a production function approach, we estimate that the economic value of biotic pollination to Georgia’s agriculture increased from $425 million in 2009 to $488 million in 2017 in real terms. We perform spatial analysis to reveal county-level spatial patterns and temporal trends in that value. Using a unique set of pollinator survey data, we al...

The increase in weather and climate disasters in recent years has prompted an interest in analyzing their consequences and the mitigation and adaptation measures that can help minimize their potentially large impacts on individuals’ welfare. We match thirty-one billion-dollar disasters with individual survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Sur...

Most residents in developing countries live under poor air quality. The adverse effects of air pollution on cardiovascular and respiratory health are well documented. More recently, it has been shown that air pollution adversely affects areas of the central nervous system regulating noncognitive traits. Because the developing brain is particularly...

Globally, rising seas, coastal erosion, extended dry periods, and flooding contribute to decreased water security and increased disaster incidence. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are increasingly advanced as innovative responses to promote adaptation and build resilience, and they are arguably more sustainable than traditional gray infrastructure. Th...

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs are used to achieve both ecosystem services and human well-being objectives. PES employs various governance structures, from top-down, national programs to local, community-managed initiatives. We compare the land use, ecosystem services and human well-being impacts of Costa Rica's national PES program...

The hedonic pricing method was applied to examine the effect of working forest conservation easements (WFCEs) on the value of surrounding land parcels in state of Georgia. Data were collected on attributes of WFCEs in 62 counties and 46,580 property sales occurring from 2001 to 2018. Results suggested that one size did not fill all and that the typ...

We examine the attributes of working forest conservation easements in Georgia. Easement contracts and baseline reports are inspected to investigate easement themes, land use types, recreation opportunities, hydrological features, and forest management activity. Easement themes are heavily weighted towards themes of protecting natural habitat and pr...

This study estimates the association between temperature and self-reported mental health. We match individual-level mental health data for over three million Americans between 1993 and 2010 to historical daily weather information. We exploit the random fluctuations in temperature over time within counties to identify its effect on a 30-day measure...

This paper investigates the spatial variation in subjective well-being across the United States. We match individual-level survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) that includes a life-satisfaction question, to county-level local amenities between 2005 and 2010. We show that life satisfaction varies widely across U.S....

Previous research has found that the manner in which forests are managed reveals forest owners' goals and management preferences for their properties. In this study, we attempt to predict forest owners' participation in payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs using observable forest management in southeast Georgia, U.S. For this task, we rel...

We examine the role of individual risk attitudes in family forest owners’ decisions regarding participation in payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs. We elicited participants’ risk attitudes using the multiple price list methodology and obtained their preferences toward hypothetical PES program designs using a choice experiment contained i...

This article provides an overview of flood risk management in the United States, focusing on the National Flood Insurance Program and the Community Ratings System (CRS), which is designed to promote flood hazard mitigation. We review the empirical literature that examines market penetration and demand for flood insurance, as well as factors that in...

Wild-harvested plants face increasing demand globally. As in many fisheries, monitoring the effect of harvesting on the size and trajectory of resource stocks presents many challenges given often limited data from disparate sources. Here we analyze American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) harvests from 18 states in the eastern U.S. 1978-2014 to in...

Using data from the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey collected in 2015, estimates of the contribution of workplace environmental factors to the job satisfaction of about 44,000 Europeans from 35 countries are presented. Workplace environmental conditions are shown to play an important role in explaining job satisfaction, comparable to contr...

Using data from a county severely affected by the increased seismicity associated with injection wells since 2009 in Oklahoma, we recover hedonic estimates of property value impacts from nearby shale oil and gas development that vary with earthquake risk exposure. Results suggest that the seismic activity has enhanced the perceived risks associated...

There is a growing consensus that information and communication technology (ICT) systems (here mobile phones and the internet) offer remarkable opportunities for promoting good governance, increasing transparency, and reducing corruption. Thus, many development practitioners, policy makers, and various international organizations who are committed...

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of Japan’s 2011 earthquake on 19 stock market sector returns in Japan and its trading partners both in the short and long run. Using an event study methodology, we find that the impact of this event was not limited to Japan or industries directly hit by the earthquake. Our short-run analys...

This paper estimates the relationship between green space and body mass index (BMI) in the U.S. We find that accounting for the heterogeneity of green space matters: BMI is significantly lower in counties with larger forestland per-capita, but not in those more abundant in rangeland, pastureland or cropland. This is after controlling for state-spec...

Background Because people care about their weight relative to peers and society, obesity inequality plays a role in explaining obesity incidence and the impacts of being obese on subjective well-being. While the increase in obesity prevalence and mean body mass index (BMI) is well documented, the measurement of distributional changes and correspond...

Benefiting from access to detailed data on the federally run National Flood Insurance Program for the entire state of Georgia, USA, we analyze residential flood insurance purchasing behavior in that state over more than three decades (1978-2010). The demand for flood insurance on an extensive margin, based on take-up rates, is found to be relativel...

This paper examines how major earthquakes affected the returns and volatility of aggregate stock market indices in thirty-five financial markets over the last twenty years. Results show that global financial markets are resilient to shocks caused by earthquakes even if these are domestic. Our analysis reveals that, in a few instances, some macroeco...

We estimate the impact of large, catastrophic floods on internal armed conflict using global data on large floods between 1985 and 2009. The results suggest that while large floods did not ignite new conflict, they fueled existing armed conflicts. Floods and armed conflict are endogenously determined, and we show that empirically addressing this en...

As agriculture faces documented decline in bees and other insect pollinators, empirical assessments of potential economic losses are critical for contextualizing the impacts of this decline and for prioritizing research needs. For the state of Georgia, we show that the annual economic value of biotic pollinators is substantial—US$367 million, equiv...

Large, catastrophic floods intensify environmental scarcity and can lead to mass displacement from affected areas. The sudden and mass influx of migrants could increase the risk of social tensions in receiving areas. In this paper, we analyze the impact of the displacement induced by large floods on civil conflict using historical data for 126 coun...

Recent years have seen a sharp increase in the use of subjective well-being data in environmental economics. This article discusses the conceptual underpinnings of using such data as a tool for preference elicitation and non-market valuation. Given the connection of those data to the notion of experienced utility, we refer to this approach as the e...

We use hedonic property models to estimate the changes in implicit flood risk premium following a large flood event. Previous studies have used flood hazard maps to proxy flood risk. In addition to knowing whether a property lies in the floodplain, we use a unique data set with the flood inundation map. We find that the price discount for propertie...

Sustainable adaptation to climate change needs to be assessed beyond the present time and location to include the way that current forms of adaptation might influence future response options. An analysis of past dynamics of adaptation, what we call “trajectories,” might hold the key to understanding how the adaptive outcomes of past responses to cl...

We use panel vector autoregression models to trace the dynamic response of output growth to flood shocks, using new data on large flood events in 135 countries between 1985 and 2008. Flood shocks tend to have a positive and significant average impact on per capita GDP growth. However, this effect is limited to developing countries and to moderate f...

In this chapter, we examine the welfare of parents in single parent households in Ireland in the context of social support. Unlike the bulk of research on this topic, we examine their well-being based on answers to subjective questions on life-satisfaction. Consistent with existing studies, we find a large negative effect on life satisfaction of be...

We analyze the impact of development on flood fatalities using a new data set of 2,171 large floods in 92 countries between 1985 and 2008. Our results challenge the conventional wisdom that development results in fewer fatalities during natural disasters. Results indicating that higher income and better governance reduce fatalities during flood eve...

We examine whether property price differentials reflecting flood risk increase following a large flood event, and whether this change is temporary or permanent. We use single-family residential property sales in Dougherty County, Georgia, between 1985 and 2004 in a difference-in-differences spatial hedonic model framework. After the 1994 “flood of...

When governments take actions under their police powers to prevent incursions of diseases, they may damage or destroy private property and a question arises of who should pay for property losses. A court in Florida concluded that the state needed to pay for property destroyed under a citrus canker eradication programme. Because this interpretation...

In this paper, we analyze the determinants of the number of large floods reported since 1990. Using the same sample of countries as Bradshaw et al. (2007), and, like them, omitting socioeconomic characteristics from the analysis, we found that a reduction in natural forest cover is associated with an increase in the reported count of large floods....

In controlling diseases, governments take actions that denigrate property interests. Losses by property owners under a citrus canker eradication program led to a legal challenge concerning the Florida state government's authority to destroy property without compensation. A court adopted time-based rights to determine when the state needed to pay fo...

We analyze the link between large and destructive floods and armed conflict in 117 countries between 1985 and 2009 employing flood-induced migration as a potential transmission channel. We use rainfall as an instrument for flood-induced migration and employ a two step procedure (Rivers and Vuong 1988) to estimate the model. We find that floods are...

We use hedonic property models to estimate the spatial variation in flood risk perception in the city of Albany, GA. In addition to knowing whether a property lies in the floodplain, we have a unique dataset with actual inundation maps from tropical storm Alberto that hit Albany in 1994. In the absence of information on the structural damages cause...

The authors analyze the determinants of fatalities in 2,194 large flood events in 108 countries between 1985 and 2008. Given that socioeconomic factors can affect mortality right in the aftermath of a flood, but also indirectly by influencing flood frequency and magnitude, they distinguish between direct and indirect effects of development on flood...

Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association's 2011 AAEA & NAREA Joint Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 24-26, 2011 Copyright 2011 by Juncal Cuñado and Susana Ferreira. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, prov...

In this paper we analyze mortality caused by 2,194 large flood events between 1985 and 2008 in 108 countries. Unlike previous studies that looked at natural-disaster mortality, we find that year-to-year changes in income and institutional determinants of vulnerability do not affect flood mortality directly. Income and institutions influence mortali...

Resource economics theory implies that risks associated with weak governance have an ambiguous impact on extraction, with the net impact depending on the relative strengths of depletion and investment effects. Previous empirical studies have found that improved governance tends to reduce deforestation but to raise oil production. Here, we present e...

Existing wealth estimates show that in most countries intangible capital is the largest share of total wealth. Intangible capital is calculated as the difference between total wealth and tangible (produced and natural) capital. This paper uses new estimates of total wealth, natural capital, and physical capital for a panel of countries to shed ligh...

In this paper we compute the genuine savings indicators for the Republic of Ireland over the period 1995-2005. We expand and improve existing World Bank's estimates by: a) using data collected from official Irish sources; b) employing the net present value method to assess resource depreciation; c) including external costs from SO(2) and NOx emissi...

This paper explores the potential of using subjective well-being (SWB) data to value environmental attributes. A theoretical framework compares this method, also known as the lifesatisfaction approach, with the standard hedonic pricing approach, identifying their similarities and differences. As a corollary, we show how SWB data can be used to test...

Despite the use of host community compensation to solve NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) siting difficulties in many industrialised countries, the effectiveness of this policy is still being debated in academic and policy-making arenas. In this paper, we examine attitudes held regarding compensation in communities directly impacted upon by final waste d...

Despite the potential energy savings and economic benefits associated with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s), their adoption by the residential sector has been limited to date. In this paper, we present a theoretical model that focuses on the agents’ ability to perceive the correct cost of lighting and on the role of environmental attitudes a...

This paper examines the impact of national fiscal measures in the EU (EU15) on passenger car sales and the CO2 emissions intensity of the new car fleet over the period 1995–2004. CO2 emissions and energy consumption from road transport have been increasing in the EU and as a result since 1999 the EU has attempted to implement a high profile policy...

Disaggregated analysis of bus priority measures remains a largely unexplored research area in transport. This research investigates such a scheme in Dublin, Ireland using a random parameters logit (RPL) specification for a stated choice survey of 1,000 catchment area residents. Welfare estimates associated with changes in seven bus-related attribut...

This article investigates the role of bus rapid transit as a tool for mitigation of transport-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. We analyse a Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) implemented in Dublin, Ireland, in 1999 and estimate CO2 emissions associated with differing levels of bus priority for the period 1998-2003 and for the Kyoto commitment period...

In recent years, economists have been using socio-economic and socio-demographic characteristics to explain self-reported individual happiness or satisfaction with life. Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), we employ data disaggregated at the individual and local level to show that while these variables are important, consideration of amen...

Indices ranking the quality of life in cities based on climatic, environmental and urban conditions have a long tradition in the hedonic literature. In this paper we propose an alternative set of indices based on subjective well-being (SWB) data linked to regional level amenities. SWB indicators provide a direct, self-reported evaluation of life sa...

Mainstream neoclassical economics takes it as given that the consumption of goods and services (output) is positively related to well-being. Work (labour-input) is assumed to be negatively related to well-being at the margin and so is only undertaken in exchange for payment. This view has been challenged for decades in the psychology and sociology...

One of the most controversial planning issues internationally is the siting of waste disposal infrastructure in local communities. Compensation is viewed as a possible solution to siting difficulties in many countries. However, existing empirical evidence is conflicting as to whether or not compensation-based siting has reduced opposition to such d...

Despite the potential energy savings and economic benefits associated with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's), their adoption by the residential sector has been limited to date. In this paper, we present a theoretical model that focuses on the agents' ability to perceive the correct cost of lighting and on the role of environmental attitudes a...

Do people care more about the environment as their income increases? In this paper we use micro data to tackle this question in two different ways. We first look at the correlation between income and attitudes towards the environment and find that it is positive, but that after controlling for education and other individual characteristics stops be...

Economic theory predicts that the current change in national wealth, broadly defined to include natural and human capital as well as produced capital (“genuine savings”), determines whether the present value of future changes in consumption is positive or negative. Theoretical research has focused on the effects of population growth on this relatio...

This paper presents a simple way for countries to reap the benefits of trade liberalization without exacerbating problems of overexploitation of natural resources. In the context of a Ricardo–Viner dynamic trade model, it is shown that when a binding quantitative restriction regulates extraction of a natural resource, free trade is optimal. This is...

There have been occasional ad hoc efforts to influence consumer behaviour by the imposition of product taxes that reflect external costs imposed by such products that are not initially included in their price. In the spirit of this idea, in 2002 Ireland introduced a 15 Euro cent tax on plastic shopping bags, previously provided free of charge to cu...

The substitution of fossil fuels with biofuels has been proposed in the European Union (EU) as part of a strategy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from road transport, increase security of energy supply and support development of rural communities. In this paper, we focus on one of these purported benefits, the reduction in greenhouse gas emiss...

In many jurisdictions, political and infrastructural restrictions have limited the feasibility of road pricing as a response to urban congestion. Accordingly, the allocation of dedicated road space to high frequency buses has emerged as a second-best option. Analyses of the evidence emerging from this option emphasize the engineering and technical...

This paper presents a comprehensive theoretical and methodological framework clarifying the relationship between non-market environmental valuation techniques, in particular hedonic and life-satisfaction methods. The paper shows how life-satisfaction scores can be used to test correctly the equilibrium condition in location markets required by the...

A report from UCD Dublin as part of the International Collaboration Projects on Sustainable Societies for the Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, January 20, 2006.

Report to Dublin City Council, Dublin Bus and Dublin Transportation Office.

In the last decade, the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy grew at a record rate for a developed country.Nevertheless, there has been much concern regarding the implications of the pace of economic growth for localised environmental quality and life satisfaction generally. It has long been recognised by economists, psychologists and others that traditional mac...

The World Bank recently began publishing estimates of countries' "genuine savings": a comprehensive measure of net investment across all forms of capital (natural and human as well as produced). This article presents the first empirical investigation of the consistency of the Bank's estimates with the hypothesis that net investment should equal the...

One of the most controversial planning issues internationally is the siting of waste disposal infrastructure in local communities. Compensation is viewed as a possible solution to siting difficulties in many countries. However, existing empirical evidence is conflicting as to whether or not compensation-based siting has reduced opposition to such d...

Deforestation primarily affects developing countries. Most developing countries share two characteristics: (1) trade liberalization reforms in the last two decades, and (2) weak property rights and limited rule of law. This paper investigates this second-best world; first, in a stylized model in which trade distortions are eliminated in an economy...

The effects of corruption on natural resource depletion remain largely unexamined. Two effects can be distinguished in a theoretical model that includes a corrupt official, a resource-extraction industry, and the public: a depletion-accelerating "Hotelling effect" and a depletion-decelerating "investment effect." A cross-country econometric analysi...