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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Anderson, Aaron, committee member"
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Item Open Access Economic essays on wildlife-aircraft conflict in the United States(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Navin, Jordan, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Anderson, Aaron, committee member; Pena, Anita, committee member; Kroll, Stephan, committee member; Mushinski, David, committee memberWildlife-aircraft conflict poses a substantial economic and safety threat in the United States (US). Dolbeer, Wright, Weller, Anderson, and Begier (2014) estimates direct costs related to wildlife strikes burdened the US economy by approximately $157 million annually between 1990 and 2014. In 1995, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) collaborated on a project with the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Wildlife Services to investigate the magnitude and nature of the wildlife strike problem, ultimately resulting in the creation of the National Wildlife Strike Database (NWSD). However, reporting strikes (and associated information, such as repair costs) to the NWSD is not mandatory, and information used to calculate economic damage estimates from wildlife strikes in the US relies on voluntarily reported cost data. This dissertation focuses on the direct costs of wildlife strikes in the US and the associated disclosure behaviors of large domestic American airlines. Chapter 1 investigates the relationship between the likelihood of voluntary repair cost disclosure after a wildlife-strike event by such airlines and market competitiveness and idiosyncratic firm profits. Results show changes in competitiveness and profitability impact the voluntary disclosure of wildlife-strike repair costs by major US airlines to the NWSD. Chapter 2 similarly examines airline voluntary disclosure accuracy, employing emerging methods from economics and accounting literature that test the accuracy of self-reported data based on a statistical property exhibited by large datasets, known as Benford's Law (de Marchi & Hamilton, 2006; Dumas & Devine, 2000; Nigrini, 1996; Zahran, Iverson, Weiler, & Underwood, 2014). Analogous to Chapter 1, findings indicate the accuracy of repair costs American air carriers report to the NWSD is linked to market competition and profits. Chapter 3 relates to developing a method for interpolating missing repair costs in the NWSD using machine learning techniques. Results show that a neural network outperforms both linear regression and random forest models when predicting out-of-sample data, and furthermore, interpolating missing costs in the NWSD with a neural network delivers an average annual estimate of the direct costs of wildlife strikes in the US that is approximately $75 million, significantly less than prior estimates. Specifically, the neural network approach yields estimates $19 and $82 million lower, respectively, than when using mean cost assignment and Dolbeer et al. (2014)'s reported estimate derived using a variation of the same method.Item Open Access Evaluating the efficiency of conservation efforts: a frontier regression approach(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Keenan, Andrew, author; Kling, Robert, advisor; Anderson, Aaron, committee member; Goemans, Chris, committee member; Pena, Anita, committee memberConservation efforts in the United Kingdom began in 1949 with the Nature Conservancy Act. The goals of this legislation were to preserve natural areas and areas inhabited by threatened and endangered species, as well as provide the opportunity for research. The objective of this thesis is to apply stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to better evaluate the efficiency of threatened and endangered species conservation efforts. SFA will build upon previous analysis that uses cost-utility analysis to measure the effectiveness of a Species Action Plan (SAP). This new application of a SFA will help improve the assessment of efficiency of government programs, and is an improvement from existing conservation efficiency measures because the analysis does not require assumptions of the value of a species. The absence of assumptions on value helps the analysis reflect actual funding decisions and better allows for interspecies comparisons. The results will not only provide a more robust analysis, but also have practical application in evaluating the efficiency of a species recovery and give conservation efforts a better measurement tool. With an effective efficiency measure in place, programs will be better judged and shifts in funding or changes to specific plans are possible.Item Open Access The economic benefits of bird control in U.S. cherry production(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Elser, Julie, author; Bernasek, Alexandra, advisor; Shwiff, Stephanie, committee member; Anderson, Aaron, committee member; Dalsted, Norman, committee memberBird damage is a common and costly problem for fruit producers, who try to limit damage by using control techniques. This analysis used a survey presented to producers in five states to estimate the damage sustained to sweet and tart cherry crops with and without the use of bird control. A modified partial equilibrium model was applied to the data to estimate the change in marginal cost of production resulting from a ban on bird control, incorporating both decreased output and elimination of control costs. Welfare analysis was conducted for both crops with short and long run supply elasticities derived from time-series data using geometric distributed lags. Total surplus for both crops combined decreases by about $166 to $216 million in the short run and $23 to $31 million in the long run with no bird management, indicating that bird control has a large impact on cherry production and associated market outcomes.Item Open Access Three essays on disease, development, and intervention(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Hatch, Brody, author; Bernasek, Alex, advisor; Shwiff, Stephanie, committee member; Iverson, Terrence, committee member; Anderson, Aaron, committee member; Manning, Dale, committee memberThe effect of health on development is well documented in the literature. Generally, variables like life expectancy and infant mortality are used as proxies for overall health. These variables encompass all potential causes of mortality and morbidity and may not provide useful policy prescriptions. Individual diseases are explored as well, such as malaria, but are not necessarily compared. This paper will map the income and age profile of 150+ individual causes of mortality. Mortality data are explored for 150+ causes, for 185 countries in 1990 and 2010. We summarize the data to show that mortality rates certain low income burdens decline rapidly as income grows while other remain constant, or even increase. We also develop a framework with with the individual relationships between burdens the income growth or vice-versa could be explored. We present a multi-species dynamic population model of wildlife management in which a manager applies spatial or individual-based disease protection interventions to a wildlife species with high existence value. We use the model to investigate the choice between the alternative interventions assuming the manager's objective is to 1) maximize abundance subject to a budget constraint or 2) minimize management costs subject to a desired abundance level. The model is specifically used to analyze population dynamics between the endangered black footed ferret and prairie dogs which are susceptible to sylvatic plague outbreaks. While specific results are sensitive to biological and economic parameters, we find a defined switch point between the recommended use of spatial vs. individual disease mitigation interventions based on either a target population or potential fixed budget. Below a specific budget or target abundance, individual-based protection should be used, while above, spatial protection should be used. We present an individual-based stochastic simulation model of wildlife population and disease dynamics under different management strategies. Our objective is to estimate the cost and biological outcome of various vaccination strategies against rabies in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. A health economic data assessment such as we present here is a crucial component of disease control. This analysis can guide management decisions by highlighting cost-effective strategies. At a broader level, it will provide information to policy makers and other stakeholders regarding both the feasibility and public health benefits, stemming from reduced canine to human transmission, of the elimination of canine rabies.Item Open Access Three essays on invasive species management and risk(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Chomphosy, William Haden, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Shwiff, Stephanie, committee member; Anderson, Aaron, committee member; Iverson, Terry, committee member; Suter, Jordan, committee memberInvasive alien species (IAS) threaten global biodiversity, ecological services, and economic welfare. Over the past several decades, these growing consequences have seen broader analysis of the determinants and consequences of, as well as responses to, this environmental hazard. This dissertation employs theoretical and empirical tools, demonstrating the role of economics in the management of invasive species. The first and second chapters analyze the effect of research investment as a component of management strategy for IAS population reduction using a continuous time dynamic optimization model. Chapter 3 exploits the historical occurrence of World War I and its impact on international trade to study invasive species risk as a global externality of military conflict and geopolitical institutional shift.