Linking repeated subjective judgments and ConvNets for multimodal assessment of the immediate living environment.

The integration of alternative data extraction approaches for multimodal data, can significantly reduce modeling difficulties for the automatic location assessment. We develop a method for assessing the quality of the immediate living environment by incorporating human judgments as ground truth into a neural network for generating new synthetic data and testing the effects in surrogate hedonic models. We expect that the quality of the data will be less biased if the annotation is performed by multiple independent persons applying repeated trials which should reduce the overall error variance and lead to more robust results. Experimental results show that linking repeated subjective judgements and Deep Learning can reliably determine the quality scores and thus expand the range of information for the quality assessment. The presented method is not computationally intensive, can be performed repetitively and can also be easily adapted to machine learning approaches in a broader sense or be transferred to other use cases. Following aspects are essential for the implementation of the method:•Sufficient amount of representative data for human assessment.•Repeated assessment trials by individuals.•Confident derivation of the effect of human judgments on property price as an approbation for further generation of synthetic data.

¿El área verde o el humedal afectan el precio de la vivienda, en un sector de Bogotá?

Diferencias en las características de la infraestructura verde pueden variar la relación entre los espacios verdes urbanos y el precio de la vivienda (PV). El objetivo de este estudio es estimar el efecto de la proximidad de áreas verdes con diseño antrópico (AVDA) y de un humedal, sobre los valores del mercado de vivienda. Mediante uso de sistemas de información geográfica se determinó el tamaño de áreas verdes próximas al humedal y otros atributos de localización de las viviendas; los precios de los inmuebles se obtuvieron en el mercado de finca raíz en Bogotá. Con mínimos cuadrados ordinarios se relacionó el PV con atributos ambientales, de localización y socioeconómicos; el Índice de Moran, modelos de contigüidad y error espaciales permitieron analizar la dependencia espacial de los datos. El AVDA y no el humedal, estuvo significativamente asociada con el PV Las regresiones realizadas mostraron la ausencia de dependencia espacial entre los datos, así como una asociación positiva del PV con las AVDA, el área del inmueble y el número de alcobas. Mientras que la edad de las viviendas y la distancia al Comando de Atención Inmediata (CAI) tuvieron una asociación negativa con el PV. Estos resultados muestran que los residentes locales pagan más por vivir cerca a áreas con AVDA y tienen implicaciones para la planificación urbana de estratos socioeconómicos altos. Los valores estimados en este trabajo pueden ser utilizados para alimentar un análisis costo-beneficio en evaluaciones para la construcción, ampliación y rehabilitación de espacios verdes urbanos. Se recomienda realizar un estudio semejante, en vecindarios de menores ingresos económicos que permitan definir también la tipología de AVDA factible de pagar y que al mismo tiempo proporcione servicios ecosistémicos culturales.

Differences in the characteristics of green infrastructure can vary the relationship between urban green spaces and housing prices. The objective of this study is to estimate the effect of the proximity of anthropically designed green areas and a wetland on housing market values. Using geographic information systems, the size of green areas near the wetland and other attributes of housing location were determined; property prices were obtained from the real estate market in Bogota. Ordinary least squares was used to relate the housing prices to environmental, location and socioeconomic attributes; the Moran Index, contiguity models and spatial error models were used to analyze the spatial dependence of the data. The anthropically designed green areas, and not the wetland, was significantly associated with the housing prices. The regressions performed showed the absence of spatial dependence among the data, as well as a positive association of housing prices with anthropically designed green areas, property area and number of alcoves. While the age of the dwellings and the distance to the Immediate Attention Command had a negative association with housing prices. These results show that local residents pay more to live near areas with anthropically designed green areas and have implications for urban planning for high socioeconomic strata. The values estimated in this work can be used to feed a cost-benefit analysis in evaluations for the construction, expansion, and rehabilitation of urban green spaces. It is recommended that a similar study be conducted in lower income neighborhoods to define the type of anthropically designed green areas that can be afforded and at the same time provide cultural ecosystem services.

As diferenças nas características da infra-estrutura verde podem variar a relação entre o espaço verde urbano e os preços da habitação (PH). O objetivo deste estudo é estimar o efeito da proximidade de áreas verdes antropogenicamente projetadas (AVAP) e de um pântano sobre os valores do mercado imobiliário. Usando sistemas de informação geográfica, foi determinado o tamanho das áreas verdes próximas ao pântano e outros atributos de localização habitacional; os preços dos imóveis foram obtidos do mercado imobiliário em Bogotá. Os mínimos quadrados comuns foram usados para relacionar a PV aos atributos ambientais, de localização e sócio-econômicos; os modelos do Índice Moran, contiguidade e erro espacial foram usados para analisar a dependência espacial dos dados. A AVAP e não a zona úmida, foi significativamente associada à PV. As regressões mostraram a ausência de dependência espacial entre os dados, bem como uma associação positiva de PH com AVAP, área da propriedade e número de alcovas. Enquanto a idade das moradias e a distância até o Comando de Atenção Imediata (CAI) tinham uma associação negativa com o PV Estes resultados mostram que os residentes locais pagam mais para viver perto de áreas com AVAP e têm implicações no planejamento urbano para altos estratos sócio-econômicos. Os valores estimados neste trabalho podem ser usados para alimentar uma análise de custo-benefício em avaliações para a construção, extensão e reabilitação de espaços verdes urbanos. Recomenda-se que seja realizado um estudo semelhante nos bairros de menor renda para também definir o tipo de AVAP que pode ser oferecido ao mesmo tempo em que fornece serviços culturais ecossistêmicos.

Valuing water quality in the United States using a national dataset on property values.

High-quality water resources provide a wide range of benefits, but the value of water quality is often not fully represented in environmental policy decisions, due in large part to an absence of water quality valuation estimates at large, policy relevant scales. Using data on property values with nationwide coverage across the contiguous United States, we estimate the benefits of lake water quality as measured through capitalization in housing markets. We find compelling evidence that homeowners place a premium on improved water quality. This premium is largest for lakefront property and decays with distance from the waterbody. In aggregate, we estimate that 10% improvement of water quality for the contiguous United States has a value of $6 to 9 billion to property owners. This study provides credible evidence for policymakers to incorporate lake water quality value estimates in environmental decision-making.

The Economic Value of Coastal Amenities: Evidence from Beach Capitalization Effects in Peer-to-Peer Markets.

Coastal amenities are public goods that represent an important attraction for tourism activities. This paper studies the capitalization effects of beach characteristics using hedonic pricing methods. We examine the implicit economic value of several beach characteristics like sand type, width, longitude, accessibility, or frontage in the Airbnb rental market. Using data for 16,663 Airbnb listings located in 67 municipalities of the Balearic Islands (Spain) during the summer of 2016, together with detailed information about the attributes of 263 beaches, our modelling approach considers interaction terms between the beach amenities and distance to the closest beach. Controlling for a set of listings' structural characteristics, host attributes and municipality fixed effects, we find that Airbnb guests attach economic value to beach length, the presence of vegetation, the type of coastal frontage and beach accessibility and exclusivity. However, there is no evidence of capitalization effects associated with beach width or the type of sand. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10640-022-00735-5.

Assessing the impact of wildfires on property values in wildland-urban intermix and interface in Colorado: A hedonic approach.

In this article, we investigate the impact of wildfire on property values in wildland-urban intermix (WUIM) and wildland-urban interface (WUIF) in Colorado. We construct fire indices accounting for the nonlinear impact of wildfires, and evaluate the effects of different fire attributes-proximity, frequency, and scale-on property values in a hedonic price framework using housing transactions data and wildfire data in Colorado from 2000 to 2016. We find a substantial difference in the impact of wildfires on property values between WUIM and WUIF. Specifically, larger fires depreciate property values in WUIM, but increase property values in WUIF. In addition, we find that small fires lead to a negative impact on property values in both WUIM and WUIF, which is comparable with larger fires. Our findings provide policymakers novel information in making more efficient wildfire management plans.

Rethinking urban park irrigation under climate change.

Climate change is forcing cities to reassess their water management practices, particularly for water-intensive applications like park irrigation. If water scarcity requires governments to deviate from current park management norms and allocate less water towards parks, it is essential that park managers design spaces that maintain community wellbeing. We apply the hedonic pricing method and use detailed park management information to assess the value of parks in a region where local climatic conditions require extensive irrigation to keep turf green, and where climate change is further constraining water supplies. Here we show that the impacts of irrigation on the value of parks differ depending on the dwelling types of the nearby housing populations that they serve. In most cases, the convention that parks have to be irrigated to deliver ecosystem services to the public is supported. However, we find that non-irrigated park areas are also valued positively by nearby apartment dwellers. Accelerating rates of urbanization and shifts towards high-density living may support the development of more diverse park options that are less water-intensive. Increased visibility of these alternative park forms, which could include more areas of native vegetation that do not require irrigation, may subsequently influence public expectations for landscape design.

Price decomposition of laser treatment for port-wine stain using the hedonic pricing model.

BACKGROUND: Port-wine stain (PWS) is a congenital capillary malformation associated with negative effects on the quality of life and psychological health of the patients. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) is the current treatment of choice for PWS; however, there is little information on the factors determining the treatment price of PWS. We aim to explore the factors determining the treatment price of PWS. METHODS: Data were collected through telephone surveys and self-reported questionnaires from hospitals, chain clinics, and doctor's offices that offered PWS treatment from February 1 to March 30, 2021. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis using a log-linear regression model. RESULTS: A total of 104 observations were gathered. The estimated base price of the treatment without any additional features is 98.34 USD. Treatment by dermatologists has an additional charge of 28.41 USD or 28.9%. Some private clinics offer a lower price of 28.7% (or 28.27 USD) by illegally having non-medical doctors perform the treatment. Treatment with 595-nm PDL and 585-nm PDL and 1064-nm Nd:YAG lasers has an additional charge of 34% (or 33.45 USD) and 38% (or 37.41 USD), respectively. The location and type of medical facility can also affect the price of the treatment. CONCLUSION: Many factors determine the base price and shadow price of PWS treatment. Factors determining a higher cost of laser fee includes non-government facilities, location within the capital city, and shopping complexes (high-cost location). Lastly, the type of laser and medical personnel provider can also affect the price of the treatment.

Provider networks and health plan premium variation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine how plan premiums are associated with physician network breadth, hospital network breadth, and hospital network quality on the Affordable Care Act's Health Insurance Marketplaces in all 50 states and the DC in 2016. DATA SOURCES: Data on plan premiums and characteristics came from 2016 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Insurance Exchange (HIX) Compare. Provider network information was obtained from Vericred. Hospital characteristics were obtained from CMS Hospital Compare and the American Hospital Association (AHA) survey. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed how plan premiums were associated with variations in physician network breadth, hospital network breadth, and hospital network quality using ordinary least square regressions with state-rating area fixed effects and carrier fixed effects. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Plan premiums were positively associated with physician network breadth and hospital network breadth. We find the following statistically significant results: a one standard deviation increase in physician network breadth was linked to a premium increase of 2.8 percent or $101 per year; a one standard deviation increase in hospital network breadth was linked to a premium increase of 2.4 percent or $86 per year. There was no significant association between premiums and hospital network quality, as measured by hospital star ratings and the inclusion of teaching hospitals or the top-20 hospitals nationwide. CONCLUSIONS: Physician network breadth and hospital network breadth contributed positively to plan premiums. The roles of the two types of provider network breadth are quantitatively similar. Premiums appear to be insensitive to hospital network quality.

Consumers preferences on nutritional attributes of dairy-alternative beverages: hedonic pricing models.

Dairy products, especially milk play a crucial role in assuring dietary quality for U.S. households. However, due to taste, nutrition, health and environmental concerns, households increasingly prefer to consume dairy alternative beverages instead of conventional milk in the U.S. This work is motivated by the need to take into consideration of intrinsic characteristics and differences of such characteristics when analyzing the changes of consumers' purchasing behavior of and willingness to pay for dairy alternative beverages and conventional milk products. After aggregating and organizing the purchase data of Nielsen Homescan and first-hand nutrition data, this study estimates both linear and semi-log hedonic pricing models. The results show that consumers exert the highest weights and assign highest evaluation on such qualitative characteristic as nutritional attributes which include calories, protein, fat, vitamin A and vitamin D in which protein is the most valued attribute and other characteristics such as package size, multi pack and brand. The hedonic pricing order and value of these qualitative characteristic are indicative of consumers' purchasing behavior and thus provide essential information for manufacturers to better differentiated their products and develop products catering to consumer's preferred attributes.

Real estate data to analyse the relationship between property prices, sustainability levels and socio-economic indicators.

Recent studies have sought to explore the relationship between environmental and financial performance, in particular the relationship between the energy efficiency level of a building and its financial value. The present real estate dataset contains 43 variables of repeat sales transactions, energy performance certificate (EPC) rating, index of multiple deprivation (IMD), and geographical location of properties in England and Wales involved in a total of 4,201 transactions from 1995 to 2012. This dataset enables researchers and practitioners to further explore important questions regarding the nexus between the real estate industry, sustainability levels, and socio-economic aspects. Due to the scarcity of publicly available quality real estate data, the dataset detailed in this article may play a relevant role by becoming easily discoverable, clearly explained, and structured to be ready to be used by researchers, analysts, and policymakers. The empirical analysis of the economic case for energy-efficient dwellings in the UK private rental market performed in Fuerst, et al. [1] is based on this dataset.

How does the land market capitalize environmental, historical and cultural components in rural areas? Evidences from Italy.

Farmland can supply a wide variety of ecosystem services, i.e. provision of food and fibre, as well as regulating, supporting, recreational, aesthetic and cultural services. In addition, farmland can be characterized by the presence of anthropic elements, i.e. archaeological sites and historical rural buildings, from which the community can obtain further non-material benefits, namely cultural heritage values, recreation and tourism, etc. However, all these services and land components can be strongly influenced by different levels of farming intensity, a condition that can damage their capacity to supply the related functions (public goods). Such land-market failures could be adjusted by acquiring information on how the above non-farming characteristics, i.e. environmental, historical and cultural determinants, are capitalized in farmland value when farming intensity varies. To this aim, a real estate survey was carried out in Italy in order to investigate the land market of traded farms cultivated under specific crops and located in two areas with different levels of farming intensity. The analysis considered farming and non-farming determinants of selling price and used a hedonic model method based on the ordinary least squares regression corrected for spatial autocorrelation. The results highlighted that the farming determinants were capitalized in selling price as expected in both areas, while the impacts of the non-farming characteristics were extremely diversified between the areas. In the extensively farmed area, the environmental, historical and cultural determinants tended to be positively capitalized, thus favouring their preservation. However, in the intensively farmed area, these were positively or negatively capitalized according to whether or not their overexploitation could allow increased yields, respectively. In yet other cases, some non-farming determinants were not capitalized at all in either area. These trends provided useful insights for the design of ad hoc market-based schemes able to enhance land market functioning and the maintenance of these components in agricultural areas with different levels of farming intensity.

Assessing the economic value of urban green spaces in Kuala Lumpur.

This study assessed the economic value of public urban green spaces (UGSs) in Kuala Lumpur (KL) city by using the hedonic price method (HPM). It involves 1269 house units from eight sub-districts in KL city. Based on the hedonic price method, this study formulates a global and local model. The global model and local model are analyzed using ordinary least square (OLS) regression and geographically weighted regression (GWR). By using the hedonic price method, the house price serves as a proxy for public urban green spaces' economic value. The house price is regressed against the set of three variables which are structural characteristics, neighborhood attributes, and environmental attributes. Measurements of interest in this study are environmental characteristics, including distance to public UGSs and size of public UGSs. The results of the OLS regression illustrated that Taman Rimba Kiara and Taman Tasik Titiwangsa provide the maximum economic value. On average, reducing the distance of the house location to Taman Rimba Kiara by 10 m increased the house price by RM1700. Similarly, increasing the size of the Taman Tasik Titiwangsa by 1000 m2 increases the house price by RM60,000. The advantage of the GWR result is the economic value of public UGSs which can be analyzed by the specific location according to sub-district. From this study, the GWR result exposed that the economic values of Taman Rimba Bukit Kiara and Taman Tasik Titiwangsa were not significant in each of the sub-district within KL city. Taman Rimba Bukit Kiara was negatively significant at all sub-districts except Setapak and certain house locations located at the sub-district of KL. In contrast, Taman Tasik Titiwangsa was positively significant at all sub-districts except certain house locations at the sub-districts of Batu, KL, Setapak, and KL city center. In conclusion, results show that the house price is influenced by the environmental attribute. However, even though both of these public UGSs generate the highest economic value based on distance and size, its significant values with an expected sign are only obtained based on the specific house location as verified by the local model. In terms of model comparison, the local model was better compared with the global model.

Impacts of environmental disturbances on housing prices: A review of the hedonic pricing literature.

The global environment is susceptible to many types of change, including alterations to the world's climate. Climate change has been linked to a host of modifications to the natural environment, including the increasing frequency and severity of disturbances such as pest outbreaks, invasions by non-native species, and wildfire. These in turn pose substantial risks to human wellbeing and health. Estimates of the direct and indirect costs of these events are important prerequisites to well-rounded cost-benefit analyses of preventative or control measures, themselves essential components of appropriate education, policy and management responses. This review brings together the evidence with respect to the impacts of disturbances such as pests, invasive species and wildfire on residential property values as measured using the hedonic pricing method. It demonstrates that whilst most disturbances have the expected negative or an insignificant house price impact, in some cases disturbances can lead to housing price rise. The possible causes and implications of these unanticipated positive price responses are discussed. Broader consequences of all directions of price impact are also considered, in particular for the development and implementation of polices designed to prevent the occurrence or spread of disturbances, or at a minimum mitigate their negative effects.

Understanding demand for higher quality sanitation in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia through stated and revealed preference analysis.

Poor peri-urban sanitation is a significant public health problem, likely to become more important as the world rapidly urbanizes. However, little is known about the role of consumer demand in increasing peri-urban sanitation quality, especially for tenants using shared sanitation as only their rental choices can be observed in the market. We analyzed data on existing housing markets collected between 9 Jun and 6 Jul 2017 using the Hedonic Pricing Method (HPM) to capture the percentage of rent attributable to sanitation quality (n = 933). We also conducted discrete choice experiments (DCEs) to obtain willingness to pay (WTP) estimates for specific sanitation components (n = 1087), and explored the implications by estimating the proportion of plots for which improved sanitation quality would generate a higher return on investment for landlords than building a place for an additional tenant to live. The HPM attributed 18% of rental prices to sanitation (∼US$8.10 per month), but parameters for several components were poorly specified due to collinearity and low overall prevalence of some products. DCEs revealed that tenants were willing to pay $2.20 more rent per month for flushing toilets on plots with running water and $3.39 more per month for solid toilet doors, though they were willing to pay little for simple hole covers and had negative WTP for adding locks to doors (-$1.04). Solid doors and flushing toilets had higher rent increase to cost ratios than other ways landlords commonly invested in their plots, especially as the number of tenant households on a plot increased. DCEs yielded estimates generally consistent with and better specified than HPM and may be useful to estimate demand in other settings. Interventions leveraging landlords' profit motives could lead to significant improvements in peri-urban sanitation quality, reduced diarrheal disease transmission, and increased well-being without subsidies or infrastructure investments by government or NGOs.

How do households perceive flood-risk? The impact of flooding on the cost of accommodation in Dublin, Ireland.

Climate change and human behaviour, such as building on floodplains, are increasing the incidence of floods in urban areas. This paper investigates the relationship between flood risk and residential accommodation costs, both sales and rental, using a detailed dataset of over 650,000 sale and rental listings in Dublin, Ireland over the period 2006-2015. These are combined with detailed data for the Dodder river on 1% flood risk and past flooding events. Research to date suggested that the lack of a persistent effect may have an impact on buyers' and sellers' risk perceptions by changing with the prevalence of hazard events and that homebuyers are unaware of flood risks and insurance requirements when bidding on properties. Using hedonic regression techniques, the presented work shows opposite results: flood events are found to have a negative impact, particularly on sale prices, while being at 1% risk has no effect once past flood events are controlled for. For past flood events, however, there is evidence to suggest that this impacts on property values, certainly in the areas affected and up to 200 m away. Before the institutional flood risk maps were published, the assessment was based on existing Ordnance Survey maps which showed areas 'Liable to flooding' generated with land surveys carried out around the 1830. Set against these devices for raising awareness of flooding is the Irish constitution which regards property rights almost the same as human rights, which obvious impacts on the ability of planners to implement development/zoning plans. On the basis of this evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that households pay more attention to past flood events than to scientific assessments of flood risk, has important policy implications about communicating flood risk to consumers.

Effects of scarcity, aesthetics and ecology on wildlife auction prices of large African mammals.

For successful integration of biological conservation into economic markets, economic processes need to capture ecological values. South African wildlife ranching is a tourist-based activity that generates unique information on the economic value of wildlife species. We used public data from South African wildlife auctions to evaluate if annual prices 1991-2012 related to species characteristics associated with scarcity, aesthetics and ecology of South African carnivores and ungulates. While none of the species characteristics influenced carnivore prices, ungulate prices were related to characteristics associated with novelty and aesthetics, which relative importance had increased over time. We raise both ecological and economic concerns for this apparent focus. Our results also suggest a potential importance of non-species-related factors, such as market and buyer characteristics. We encourage further evaluation of the relative influences of species characteristics versus factors that are intrinsically linked to economic processes on price variations in South African wildlife.

Green pastures: Do US real estate prices respond to population health?

We investigate whether communities with improving population health will subsequently experience rising real estate prices. Home price indices (HPIs) for 371 MSAs from 1990 to 2010 are regressed against life-expectancy five years prior. HPIs come from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Life expectancy estimates come from the Institute of Health Metrics. Our analysis uses random and fixed effect models with a comprehensive set of controls. Life expectancy predicted increases in the HPI controlling for potential confounders. We found that, this effect varied spatially. Communities that invest their revenue from property taxes in public health infrastructure could benefit from a virtuous cycle of better health leading to higher property values. Communities that do not invest in health could enter vicious cycles and this could widen geospatial health and wealth disparities.

Toward a Hedonic Value Framework in Health Care.

In well-functioning markets, a hedonic pricing scheme can reflect the marginal valuation of various attributes of a differentiated product at market equilibrium. It serves as an important tool to inform pricing of a new product with a specific combination of attributes. Because health cannot be bought and sold in a market setting, and health care markets are distorted by insurance or government subsidies, direct valuation of a health intervention as a differentiated good through observed market prices is difficult. In this article, we discuss the rationale of using stated preference methods for developing a hedonic value framework for health insurance products to inform the decision on whether a product should be covered or subsidized by insurance, given its price. This value index will not reflect marginal value at market equilibrium, as in a hedonic pricing scheme, but would capture the distribution of marginal value in the population. We discuss how affordability concerns can be integrated into the development of a hedonic valuation model. We compare this framework with traditional cost-effectiveness analysis and also the existing value frameworks put forth by various organizations. The framework can be adopted to inform other decisions such as pricing. We argue that developing such a comprehensive and decision-theoretic value framework is feasible and, if successful, can serve to inform health care resource allocation in this country for decades to come in a systematic manner.

Estimating the Cost and Payment for Sanitation in the Informal Settlements of Kisumu, Kenya: A Cross Sectional Study.

Lack of sanitation facilities is a common occurrence in informal settlements that are common in most developing countries. One challenge with sanitation provision in these settlements is the cost and financing of sanitation. This study aimed at estimating the cost of sanitation, and investigating the social and economic dynamics within Kisumu's informal settlements that hinder provision and uptake of sanitation facilities. Primary data was collected from residents of the settlements, and using logistic and hedonic regression analysis, we identify characteristics of residents with sanitation facilities, and estimate the cost of sanitation as revealed in rental prices. Our study finds that sanitation constitutes approximately 54% of the rent paid in the settlements; and dynamics such as landlords and tenants preferences, and sharing of sanitation facilities influence provision and payment for sanitation. This study contributes to general development by estimating the cost of sanitation, and further identifies barriers and opportunities for improvement including the interplay between landlords and tenants. Provision of sanitation in informal settlements is intertwined in social and economic dynamics, and development approaches should target both landlords and tenants, while also engaging various stakeholders to work together to identify affordable and appropriate sanitation technologies.

How economics can further the success of ecological restoration.

Restoration scientists and practitioners have recently begun to include economic and social aspects in the design and investment decisions for restoration projects. With few exceptions, ecological restoration studies that include economics focus solely on evaluating costs of restoration projects. However, economic principles, tools, and instruments can be applied to a range of other factors that affect project success. We considered the relevance of applying economics to address 4 key challenges of ecological restoration: assessing social and economic benefits, estimating overall costs, project prioritization and selection, and long-term financing of restoration programs. We found it is uncommon to consider all types of benefits (such as nonmarket values) and costs (such as transaction costs) in restoration programs. Total benefit of a restoration project can be estimated using market prices and various nonmarket valuation techniques. Total cost of a project can be estimated using methods based on property or land-sale prices, such as hedonic pricing method and organizational surveys. Securing continuous (or long-term) funding is also vital to accomplishing restoration goals and can be achieved by establishing synergy with existing programs, public-private partnerships, and financing through taxation.