We report on the results of a large-scale contingent valuation (CV) study conducted after
the Exxon Valdez oil spill to assess the harm caused by it. Among the issues considered are the design
features of the CV survey, its administration to a national sample of U.S. households, estimation of
household willingness to pay to prevent another Exxon Valdez type oil spill, and issues related to
reliability and validity of the estimates obtained. Events influenced by the study's release are also
briefly discussed.

Improved water harvesting and soil erosion control using the remarkably simple practice of contour stone bunding is shown to increase grain yields by 41% in low rainfall regions of Burkina Faso. Empirical results show that yield increases in food crops help foodbuying farm households import substitute in food consumption, reduce livestock production, and increase seasonal migration which is more compatible with seasonal agriculture than with the yearlong livestock activity. Self-sufficient households, by contrast, can take advantage of higher yields to free resources from food production and allocate these to expand their livestock economy, thus benefiting more from the region’s comparative advantage. We also show that greater effectiveness in cooperation in the management of common property resources helps increase income derived from livestock for all categories of households. However, not all forms of cooperation are effective. When cooperation is only formal, individual activities such as crops, non-agricultural employment, and seasonal migration are pursued as opposed to livestock activities that rely on effective community management of common property resources.

Regionalization of agricultural research across countries has received considerable attention in recent years, with the establishment of regional and sub-regional organizations in most regions. Recently, the CGIAR System has called for a regional approach to research involving bottom-up priority-setting and implementation, and integrating this with global priority-setting. This paper explores the possibility of developing an approach for research priority-setting that would satisfy national, regional and global expectations of regionalization and allow the regional and sub-regional organizations to assume a bigger role. The paper also considers how the CGIAR Centres may support this priority-setting process and how they may use it to define their regional activities. A review of existing regional research initiatives show the many models in use, with different extents of collaboration, and with different challenges and promises. Regional priorities can strengthen the relevance of agricultural research in a region or sub-region. A description of a relatively generic approach to establishing regional priorities is presented. Different research organizations that are present in a region can use the research priorities to enable their work, and it is possible for CGIAR Centres to participate in the regional agenda while respecting the global nature of the CGIAR System. The integration of regional priorities into the CGIAR global research agenda is an area where there is little experience in the CGIAR System. The challenge for the CGIAR is to determine how to maintain a global focus in its agenda while promoting a coordinated regional approach to research planning and implementation. Priority-setting in the CGIAR will become even more of an ongoing process while the bottom-up regional approach to research planning, priority-setting and implementation is established in all regions.

Drug markets have been targeted for increasingly tough enforcement yet retail prices for cocaine and heroin fell by 70-80%.  No research has explained adequately why prices have fallen.  This paper explores the possibility that part of the explanation may lie in the failure of drug dealers to respond to risks the way the simplest rational actor models might predict.

This paper addresses market failure due to externalities, as well as information asymmetries and public policy problems that need to be solved to ensure high quality care for affective disorders. We delineate the problems in parity legislation, managed care, as well as Medicare and Medicaid that need to be addressed to reduce the burden of illness affective disorders. A research agenda is developed for formulating and implementing public policy.