The CRIOCM 2006 International Symposium on “Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate”
A STUDY ON COLLEGE CAMPUS CULTURAL AND ECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT VALUE BASED ON CVM —— TAKING HUAJIACHI CAMPUS AS AN EXAMPLE
Shi Zhong WANG1, 2, Wei Dong LIU1 1. Land Resources Management Dep. Zhejiang University，Hangzhou，China 2. Research Center for Real Estate, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economy，Hangzhou，China
Abstract: CVM，as a means of measuring and evaluating the value of environment, has been used more and more widely and commonly in foreign developed countries. But, in china, it is just a start and study cases by using CVM are very few. It is very common in our country’s college taking land exchange as a way to expand its size, and this must result in the loss of old campus cultural and ecological environment value. These are the most important part of a college. This paper, by using CVM and taking Huajiachi (one campus of Zhejiang University) as an example, tries to evaluate the economic value of campus cultural and ecological environment, and analyze its bias existing in the course of evaluation. Key words: college campus; contingent valuation method; willingness to pay; bias analysis
1 Introduction
CVM, also called evaluation according to willingness to pay or evaluation by hypothesis, is lately the most widely used standard evaluating method on public property value especially in the domain of natural resources in zoology and environment economics in home and abroad. In the hypothesis of marketing condition, CVM obtains the usage and non-usage value of environment resources by deducing the public’s willingness to pay or willingness to accept compensation for environment resources [1]. Since doctor Davis of Harvard university submitted the first paper on CVM in 1963 [2], mainly represented by Hanemann, more than 2000 papers on CVM have been published in <
966 The CRIOCM 2006 International Symposium on “Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate”
2 Study Area and Method
2.1 General Situation of Study Area
Huajiachi（Fig.1），one campus of Zhejiang University, which has a total area of 98.93 hectares，is located at the eastern part of Hangzhou downtown. Its history can go back early to 1934，and its first name is agriculture institute of Zhejiang University. After liberation，it was separated from Zhejiang University and named Zhejiang Agricultural Institute，then renamed Zhejiang Agricultural University. In 1998，it was reincorporated by Zhejiang University. As a campus which has a history of more than 70 years，there exist all kinds of old-timely buildings and old-tall trees. When you enter the campus, you will have a feeling that you have left the noisy city behind and entered the deep institution of higher learning. The most amazing scenery in the campus is Huajia pond which is called the small Westlake in Hangzhou. Huajia pond, which has an area of 5.60 hectares and an average water depth of 2 meters, has a long history and has existed from the beginning of Ming dynasty. There exists a small island in the center of the pond. In the island, there exists a red summerhouse and old green weather-beaten pine trees. Along the pond, there are all kinds of old beautiful willows. The scenery of Huajiachi is very rare even in all the campuses of Chinese colleges. After the amalgamation of four former individual universities, there are many problems such as too few opportunities of communication between teachers and students in different campuses, too big running costs for transportation between different campuses, in new Zhejiang University. These not only bring big problems and huge challenges on school’s management, but also are unfavorable to the integration of subjects in different campuses to their advantages. So, according to the agreements between the school and Hangzhou government, a new campus called Zijingang is constructed to replace the campuses which are not in agreement with the future layout of school. The school has to give up the Huajiachi campus because it is located in the eastern part of Hangzhou downtown and far away from the other campuses. Many people, including teachers, students and alumni feel regrettable for this. So, by using CVM, this paper tries to evaluate the economic value of cultural and ecological surroundings in Huajiachi campus.
Fig.1 Location of Huajiachi in Hangzhou
967 The CRIOCM 2006 International Symposium on “Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate”
2.2 The Design of Investigation Based on CVM and Bias Control
The preconditions of this investigation are as follows: There are two campuses called A and B in Zhejiang University. A is Huajiachi campus and B is the campus which is almost the same as Huajiachi in outer surroundings, location and hardware establishments mainly including laboratories, classrooms, libraries, canteens, dorms and swimming pools. However, in “B” campus, there is almost no historical and cultural atmosphere. It is like a big factory which has no scenery establishments such as pond, hill, big trees and pavilions. Now it is time for students、faculty logistic workers to choose freely. To students, if they want to study in “A” campus, they must pay extra money for the chance. To faculty and logistic workers, if they want to work in “A” campus, they must give up an extra allowance provided by the school. Inquiry paper is the key tool for CVM. This paper of inquiry consists of four parts: The first one is inquiry to consciousness of faculty、students and logistic workers. The second one is the willingness to pay for working and studying in “A” campus. The third one is inquiry to social and economic conditions of respondents. In the last part of the inquiry paper, contents suggested by scholars mainly represented by Arrow in 1993 are added. The contents are that in order to evaluate the effectiveness of inquiry, please ask the respondents to fill the degree of their understandings to the inquiry in the last part of the paper. In the second part of the paper, when asking the amount of willingness to pay, the way of answering freely is adopted, and no bounds of choice are provided. Generally speaking, the advantage of answering freely is that it can eradicate the bias of starting point and the one caused by respondents’ over-activity（Carlsson etc. 2000）. If the respondents don’t want to pay, let them give the reasons. The inquiry paper is detailed in appendix1.
3 Results and Analysis
3.1 Results of Inquiry
On November 14, 2005, pre-inquiry was taken, and on the basis of pre-inquiry, the inquiry paper and the way of inquisition were adjusted and improved. This inquiry was taken by sampling randomly in three ways of telephone 、network and talking directly. The bounds of inquiry was limited in Huajiachi and the respondents were teachers 、students and workers in logistics department. By the end of December 1, 2005, 252 eligible inquiry papers in total have been collected. There are 86.2 percent inquiry papers with the answer of willingness to pay, and there are the other 13.8 percent inquiry papers with the answer of unwillingness to pay. The inquiry results are detailed in the following tables 1、2、3 and 4.
Tab.1 Statistical Table of Workers and Students’ Willingness to Pay
Bounds of Numerical Value of Willingness to Pay Ratio of Effective Inquiry Papers in All ( Yuan/Year Per Capita ) ( % ) 0 13.80 0-250 3.28 251-550 26.45 551-850 37.52 851-1200 12.61 Over 1201 6.34
Tab.2 Percentage of Amount of Workers and Students’ Willingness to Pay in Their Yearly Family Income
Percentage of WTP in Family Yearly Income（％ ） Percentage of Effective Inquiry Papers in All（ ％ ） 0 13.80 0-2 45.32 2-5 32.17
968 The CRIOCM 2006 International Symposium on “Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate”
over 5 8.71 Tab.3 The Average Value of Workers and Students’ Willingness to Pay
Willingness to Pay Average Value Standard Bias Median Mode Max. 577.24 2346 350 600 12000
Tab.4 The Degree of Understanding of Respondents to Inquiry Paper（％）
Not Understanding Degree of Understanding Understanding Fully Understanding Partially Very Much or Completely Ratio in all 69.40 25.30 5.30
3.2 Analysis of Inquiry and Results
In this inquiry, most of the respondents express that they can understand the inquiry paper. This indicates that the design of the inquiry paper is very successful. This inquiry indicates the following characteristics: The first one is that 95.6 percent respondents think the cultural and ecological environment of campus is very important to college development and this indicates that everyone has fully realized the importance of college environment atmosphere. The second one is that according to statistical results, the reason of unwillingness to pay is too low family economic income to have the ability to pay. The third one is that willingness to pay has significant correlation with family income and this indicates that with the improvement of people’s lives the needs for work and study’s environment have become more and more emphasized. The fourth one is willingness to pay has no significant correlation with age, but people more than 51 years old, have no strong willingness to pay. The last one is, as a whole, respondents who live in school have stronger willingness to pay than the other ones.
3.3 Total Economic Value of Cultural and Ecological Environment in Huajiachi Campus
Huajiachi campus has a total area of 98.93 hectares, with a water area of 5.6 hectares. According to land using efficiency in Hangzhou colleges, it can accommodate about 26,000 faculty、students and workers for logistic department (including 20,000 full time students、4,000 part time students、2,000 faculty and logistic workers ). According to the inquiry results and 2005 price level, the economic value of cultural and ecological environment in Huajiachi campus is about 15,000,000 Yuan per year.
4 Bias Analysis of Study
It is very necessary to analyze the study bias before reaching any conclusion, and bias analysis has been a very important part of CVM study. In this CVM study, the main possible biases and their controlling measures are as follows: (1) Hypothetical Bias This bias is one of the most weakest points of CVM. It only depends on people’s attitudes, not on their market behaviors, and this is one of the most important factors which result in uncertainty in CVM. In this study, when the respondents fill in the willingness to pay, the limitation of family income is reminded in order to imitate a relatively real market condition as much as possible. (2) Yea-saying Bias When interviewed face-by-face or by telephone, the respondents often give answers which satisfy the inquirers. This often results in the respondent’s higher WTP and leads to bias. In this study of CVM investigation, the respondents have been given fully enough free-thinking time to avoid this bias effectively as
969 The CRIOCM 2006 International Symposium on “Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate”
much as possible. (3) Part-whole Bias This inquiry is a sampling investigation. So there the problem of samples’ representation must exist, and it is impossible that the samples are fully consistent with the whole. Besides that, Huajiachi campus has not reached its potential accommodation size for college students at all, so this study refers to other similar campuses’ student’s size in Hangzhou, and this enlarges the sample’s part-whole bias once more. In order to reduce this kind of bias as much as possible, when sampling in this investigation, on one hand, this study considers the campus personnel structure and samples from different kind of members randomly. On the other hand, this study increases the number of sample as much as possible to raise sample representation. (4) External Effect Bias External economic bias of the present study is the largest deviation. Externality means of an act by an economic body against the benefits of another one which can not be reflected by currency or market transactions. The strong historical and cultural sedimentation of colleges must radiate to the campus surrounding communities, and even affects the entire city. The beautiful campus environment of college not only purifies the air around but also provides a broad perspective and a good ecological landscape for surrounding people. This study, from the angle of college itself, discusses its economic value loss of campus cultural and ecological environment by giving up its old campus for land exchange. Of course, if Huajiachi external economic value is taken into account, its economic value of cultural and ecological environment will be far greater than the current one.
5 Research Findings and Prospects
This paper, from the angle of college itself, takes a study on the economic value of college’s campus environment by using CVM. Results indicate that, if the external economic value is not taken into account, according to 2005 price level, the economic value of cultural and ecological environment in Huajiachi campus of Zhejiang University is about 15,000,000 Yuan per year. Considering its external economic value, the number will be far greater than the present one. Of course, if Zhejiang University gives up Huajiachi campus, it doesn’t mean that, to the whole society, all these values will be lost at all. According to Hangzhou city’s overall development strategy planning, the main part of Huajiachi campus will remain for a city park to play its rightful role. Studies on economic value of college campus’ cultural and ecological environment are still very few in our country, and there still exist many new domains to be studied further. This study also has many places to be discussed further, for example, how to evaluate the external economic value of college campus. This is also the direction I need to study further in future.
Appendix1: WTP (Willingness to Pay) Inquiry Table
. Explanation: .This inquiry is just a tentative study, and has no relationship with the university’s decision-making. . This investigation is on the assumption that you are taking a market transaction and dose not need your actual payment. According to your experience or feelings and your family economic condition, Please express your true willingness to pay. . Questions: .Do you think campus’s cultural and ecological environment is very important? ( ) A yes B no . If you want to live in campus A (Huajiachi) for work or study, how much are you willing to pay or give up personally at most? Willingness to pay personally ( ) Yuan per year The ratio of payment in your family income ( ) . If you don’t want to pay, the reason is ( ). A My family income is too low to have the ability to pay
970 The CRIOCM 2006 International Symposium on “Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate”
B The environment of campus is not important, and it is unnecessary to pay C I am not interested in this investigation D Other reasons (Please write down your reasons) ( ) . General information of respondents 1. Sex（ ） A male B female 2. Age ( ) A less than 20 B 21-25 C 25-30 D 30-50 E over 51 3. Education background ( ) A lower than bachelor degree B bachelor C master D doctor 4. Family income per year ( ) A less than 20,000 B 30,000-50,000 C 60,000-90,000 D over 100,000 5. The number of family members ( ) A less than 3 B over 4 6. Years in college ( ) A less than 2 years B 3-4 years C more than 5 years 7. Do you live in college ( ) A yes B no . Can you understand the content of this inquiry paper? ( ) A understand completely B understand partly C don’t understand very much D don’t understand at all
Main References
Arrow K. et al (1993). Report of NOAA panel on contingent valuaions[A]. in: US federal register[C]， 10:4601-4614. Carlsson F.，and Johansson S.O.(2000). Willingness to pay for improved air quality in Sweden[J]. Applied Economics，32（6）：661－669. Choi W S, Lee K J, and Lee B W.(2001). Determining the value of reductions in radiation risk using the contingent valuation method. Annals of NuclearEnergy,28:1431～1445. Davis R K (1963). Recreation planning as an economic problem. Natural Resource Journal,3:239～249. Jakobsson, Christin M, and Eglar E.(1996). Contingent valuation and endangered species: methodological issues and applications. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Press. Mitchell R ， and Carson R (1989) . Using surveys to value public goods: the contingent valuation method .Washington DC: Resources for the future. Wang Shoubing, Wang Pingjian, and Hu Zeyuan, etc.(2003). Evaluation of ecosystem landscape service value—taking Suzhou river in Shanghai as an example[J].Journal of Fu Dan University, 42(3): 463～467. Xu Zhongmin, Zhang Zhiqiang, and Long Aihua, etc.(2003). Comparison and application of evaluating means in Ejinaqi ecosystem restoration[J]. Journal of Ecology, 23(9): 1841~1850. Xu Zhongmin, Zhang Zhiqiang, and Chen Guodong, etc.(2004). Total economic evaluation of Zhangye ecosystem restoration in Heihe[J]. Journal of Natural Resources, 19(2): 320~329. Yang Kai, and Zhao Jun (2005). Evaluation of urban river ecosystem service based on CVM and its bias analysis[J]. Journal of Ecology,25(6):880～886. Zhang Zhiqiang, Xu Zhongmin, and Chen Guodong, etc.(2002). Evaluation of Zhangye Ecosystem Restoration in Heihe Based on CVM[J]. Journal of Ecology, 22(6): 885~893. Zhao Jun, and Yang Kai(2004). Evaluation of Shanghai urban river ecosystem based on CVM[J]. Environmental Science Research, 17(2): 57~60.
971