Mattias Boman

Bio: Mattias Boman is an academic researcher from University of the West Indies. The author has contributed to research in topics: Contingent valuation & Willingness to pay. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 46 publications receiving 912 citations. Previous affiliations of Mattias Boman include Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Moose Hunting Values in Sweden Now and Two Decades Ago: The Swedish Hunters Revisited

Abstract: This paper is based on two national contingent valuation studies dealing with the extent and economic values of hunting in Sweden. The first valuation study was conducted in 1987 and the second in 2006. Both the game resource and the hunter community have undergone changes in the two decades covered by the surveys. An important purpose of the latter survey was to repeat relevant parts of the former one, which created a rare opportunity to compare valuations covering a very long time span. Moose hunting value and its determinants were compared between the two studies, showing that significant changes have taken place. Our analysis suggests caution in using results from old contingent valuation studies for e.g. benefits transfer exercises.

Obtaining welfare bounds in discrete-response valuation studies : A non-parametric approach

Abstract: Welfare change estimates obtained from discrete-response contingent valuation experiments normally assume a particular distribution of willingness-to-pay (WTP) Using conventional microeconomy theo

Attitudes towards various forest functions: A comparison between private forest owners and forest officers

Abstract: In Sweden, privately owned forests provide timber as well as recreational opportunities and biodiversity. In general, forest officers from organizations, whose business is to serve private forest owners, manage these forests. Through survey data, this study compared the attitudes of private forest owners towards various forest functions to how forest officers understand these attitudes. The views of forest owners and forest officers did not always coincide, nor did the attitudes of forest owners in different regions of Sweden. Forest officers regarded timber production as more important than did forest owners. Forest owners considered recreational and environmental functions of the forest as more important to them than did forest officers. Possible explanations for these differences were discussed, along with forest policy implications.

Finding stress relief in a forest

Abstract: Stress related states like mental fatigue (e.g. burnout syn-drome), sleep disturbance, and depression, are together with musculoskeletal disorders today the most widespread diseases causing long term sick leaves in Sweden among patients between 20 and 60 yr of age (The Swedish Social Insurance Agency 2007). This is in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) global scenario, which sug-gests that mental health disorders and cardiovascular dis-eases are expected to be the two major contributors to ill-nesses in almost all parts of the world, by the year of 2020 (Murray and Lopez 1996).Compared to ancient days, the contemporary human being has to deal with a rapid pace of life, high continuous demands, and competitiveness resulting in an overload of uncontrollable stressors (factors triggering stress) (Maller et al. 2006). During stress different body organs react in many varied ways, and if sustained for a prolonged time without the possibility for recovery these reactions become dysfunctional and harmful with the risk of causing del-eterious changes to, for instance, the cardiovascular sys-tem and neuro-hormonal systems of the body (McEwen 2000, Wahrborg 2002). This may cause psychiatric ill-nesses, metabolic disturbances, impaired immunological function, as well as a higher incidence of tumours (Lund-berg 2005, Ohman et al. 2007). In combination with the current sedentary lifestyle, with a substantial lack of daily physical activity to many persons (30–40% of the Swedish population is insufficiently physically active according to Elinder and Faskunger 2006), this is a significant threat to public health.In aspects of mental health disorders and in matters of stress, gender is an important predictive factor or deter -minant. It has been found that reactions and responses to stress differ between men and women, both on a somatic, neurological level, and in psychosocial aspects (Franken-hauser 1983, Kudielka and Kirschbaum 2005). Due to

Conservation Goals and the Relative Importance of Costs and Benefits in Reserve Selection

Abstract: Including both economic costs and biological benefits of sites in systematic reserve selection greatly increases cost-efficiency. Nevertheless, limited funding generally forces conservation planners to choose which data to focus the most resources on; therefore, the relative importance of different types of data must be carefully assessed. We investigated the relative importance of including information about costs and benefits for 3 different commonly used conservation goals: 2 in which biological benefits were measured per site (species number and conservation value scores) and 1 in which benefits were measured on the basis of site complementarity (total species number in the reserve network). For each goal, we used site-selection models with data on benefits only, costs only, and benefits and costs together, and we compared the efficiency of each model. Costs were more important to include than benefits for the goals in which benefits were measured per site. By contrast, for the complementarity-based goal, benefits were more important to include. To understand this pattern, we compared the variability in benefits and in costs for each goal. By comparing the best and the worst possible selection of sites with regard to costs alone and benefits alone for each conservation goal, we introduced a simple and consistent variability measure that is applicable to all kinds of reserve-selection situations. In our study, benefit variability depended strongly on how the conservation goal was formulated and was largest for the complementarity-based conservation goal. We argue that from a cost-efficiency point of view, most resources should be spent on collecting the most variable type of data for the conservation goal at hand.

Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species, Suppl info

Abstract: Forests are of major importance to human society, contributing several crucial ecosystem services. Biodiversity is suggested to positively influence multiple services but evidence from natural systems at scales relevant to management is scarce. Here, across a scale of 400,000 km2, we report that tree species richness in production forests shows positive to positively hump-shaped relationships with multiple ecosystem services. These include production of tree biomass, soil carbon storage, berry production and game production potential. For example, biomass production was approximately 50% greater with five than with one tree species. In addition, we show positive relationships between tree species richness and proxies for other biodiversity components. Importantly, no single tree species was able to promote all services, and some services were negatively correlated to each other. Management of production forests will therefore benefit from considering multiple tree species to sustain the full range of benefits that the society obtains from forests.

Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species

Abstract: Forests are of major importance to human society, contributing several crucial ecosystem services. Biodiversity is suggested to positively influence multiple services but evidence from natural systems at scales relevant to management is scarce. Here, across a scale of 400,000 km(2), we report that tree species richness in production forests shows positive to positively hump-shaped relationships with multiple ecosystem services. These include production of tree biomass, soil carbon storage, berry production and game production potential. For example, biomass production was approximately 50% greater with five than with one tree species. In addition, we show positive relationships between tree species richness and proxies for other biodiversity components. Importantly, no single tree species was able to promote all services, and some services were negatively correlated to each other. Management of production forests will therefore benefit from considering multiple tree species to sustain the full range of benefits that the society obtains from forests.

Computational Methods for Measuring the Difference of Empirical Distributions

Abstract: This paper presents a simple computational method for measuring the difference of independent empirical distributions estimated by bootstrapping or other resampling approaches. Using data from a field test of external scope in contingent valuation, this complete combinatorial method is compared with other methods (empirical convolutions, repeated sampling, normality, nonoverlapping confidence intervals) that have been suggested in the literature. Tradeoffs between methods are discussed in terms of programming complexity, time and computer resources required, bias, and the precision of the estimate.

Resources in the future

Abstract: We describe the major features of a post-2012 international global climate policy architecture with three essential elements: a means to ensure that key industrialized and developing nations are involved in differentiated but meaningful ways; an emphasis on an extended time path of targets; and inclusion of flexible market-based policy instruments to keep costs down and facilitate international equity. This architecture is consistent with fundamental aspects of the science, economics, and politics of global climate change; addresses specific shortcomings of the Kyoto Protocol; and builds upon the foundation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.