Title:Perception Biases in Land Use Changes and Linkage with Actual Land Use Decisions.

Speaker: Hongli Feng

Abstract:Individuals make decisions based on their perception of circumstances more than the actual circumstances. Yet a large literature has shown that perceptions are not always consistent with the reality and can have significant impacts on behaviors. Perception biases documented in the literature often pertain to subject matters that are difficult to observe or measure like risks of natural disasters and returns to educational investments. In this paper, we study perception biases with respect to an indicator that is very concrete and can be objectively measured—land use changes in a local area. Land use changes are a major issue around the globe because of their substantial impacts on ecosystems. Despite its potential significance, how perception of land use changes compared to objective measurements has received little attention. In this paper, we start to fill this gap with a farmer survey and satellite land use data.

AboutHongli Feng:Professor Hongli Feng is an associate professor at department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University.

Her research interest is in environmental economics, agricultural economics and applied microeconomics. She published papers at top journals such asAmerican Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and Land economics.

Date: June,20,2016

Time:16:00-17:20 PM

Location:Room 608, Academic Hall, CUFE