2016 Volume 39 Issue 1 Pages 49-57
Based on the international agreements achieved after the Kyoto Protocol was established, some projects for reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been promoted in Japan. Policies such as various regulations and the introduction of an environmental tax have been discussed, many of which place significant responsibility on citizens. However, in many local cities, important problems such as declining birth rate, aging population, and stagnation of regional economy make it difficult give priority to a global warming prevention policy. In addition, even when a local city has plenty of natural resources, such as forest, wind, water, and sunlight, financial difficulties often hinder the funding needed to implement a global warming prevention policy which utilizes these resources. In this study, we propose a small hydroelectric generation project involving citizen participation, which includes not only monetary donations but also active cooperation in the project itself, such as cleaning and patrolling the facilities and environment. The project is evaluated based on the willingness to work (WTW) using the contingent valuation method and general equilibrium analysis. As a result, the WTW for the project has been estimated as a function of its various attributes: the revenue, the profit to the local community, and the reward to contributors.
