Bibliographies/Benefits Transfer

Following is a description of several bibliographies on the socioeconomics of natural resources and the environment, and a summary of several databases that may be used in support of benefits transfer (i.e., the use of existing information to help resolve new management/policy problems). Additionally, instructions for accessing and searching these databases are provided.

Annotated Bibliographies
Bibliography Descriptions
Benefits Transfer Databases
The Application of Benefits Transfer

Annotated Bibliographies

Four annotated bibliographies are available (see descriptions below). Three can be accessed and searched with an online search application. The third is in portable document format (PDF) and can be downloaded here. See below for descriptions of the databases.

Searchable Bibliographies:

South Florida Socioeconomic Bibliography (SOCECON)
South Florida Ecological Bibliography (ECOLOG)
Coral Reef Literature Review

Bibliography in portable document format:

Florida Environmental Resource Valuation Case Studies (pdf, 140 kb)

Bibliography Descriptions

South Florida Socioeconomic Bibliography. The Socioeconomic Bibliography was developed as part of the literature review process for two projects in South Florida: (1) the Socioeconomic Monitoring Program for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and (2) the Restoration of South Florida. This database is periodically updated since both programs are ongoing.

South Florida Ecological Bibliography. The ecological bibliography was compiled to support the physical sciences in the South Florida Restoration. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and The Nature Conservancy originally compiled this bibliography. It was last updated in 1998.

Coral Reef Valuation Database (Zipped Microsoft Access File, 131 kb) This bibliography was compiled to provide an annotated bibliography of existing literature and data on the socioeconomic aspects of coral reefs, along with a database containing the estimated values in support of benefits transfer applications. It was last updated in August of 2002.

Florida Environmental Resource Valuation Case Studies (pdf, 140 kb), was compiled to support a Coastal Handbook on the use of economics in managing coastal and ocean resources in Florida. The Coastal Handbook for Florida is part of a series of handbooks created by NOAA’s Office of Policy and Planning in cooperation with NOAA’s National Sea Grant Program. The primary focus of this bibliography is economic valuation for each type of natural resource (e.g., beaches, wetlands, artificial and natural reefs, fisheries). There is some duplication with SOCECON.

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Benefits Transfer Databases

Currently there are three benefits transfer databases. The first is the Florida Values Digest (pdf, 28 kb). This is not a true database but instead a report with summary tables of the values estimated in the studies included in the annotated bibliography SOCECONFL. The table includes bibliographic reference information, year of study, estimation methodology, type of resource, type of user (resident or visitor), and estimate of value. For recreational activities, values have been normalized to values per person per day. For other applications, such as wetlands, values are given per acre.

The second benefits transfer database, Recreation Values Database, 1998 (Microsoft Excel, 928 kb), was created by Randall Rosenberger at the University of West Virginia under contract to the U.S. Forest Service. The primary focus was on recreational uses of forests; however, a wider group of studies is included that are relevant to valuing recreational uses of coastal and ocean resources. The database and documentation can be downloaded from this site. The file is an Microsoft Excel workbook with two spreadsheets. One spreadsheet contains data and the other contains documentation of the data fields.

The third database is the Coral Reef Valuation database (Microsoft Access, 756 kb). This database includes all studies with estimated values from the annotated Coral bibliography. The file is in Microsoft Access format.

The Application of Benefits Transfer

Also provided is a technical document on the use of benefits transfer by Rosenberger and Loomis (pdf, 396 kb). Several theoretical and empirical issues to applying benefit transfers are identified for use in judging the relevance and credibility of transferring specific measures. Four benefit transfer models are discussed, including value transfers (single point estimates, average values) and function transfers (demand and benefit functions and meta analysis benefit function). A simple example application is followed throughout the discussion of various benefit transfer methods. A decision tree is provided as a framework for determining how to obtain benefit measures for recreational activities.

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