Dr. Daniel Rondeau

Dr. Rondeau joined the Department of Economics at UVic in 1999 where he is currently a professor.

Dr. Rondeau specializes in the study of environmental and resource management issues and mechanism design applied to environmental valuation, the study of public goods and resource markets.

Dr. Rondeau is recognized nationally and internationally in the field of environmental and resource economics. He is a co-editor of Environmental and Resource Economics, the official journal of the European Association of Environmental Economists. He is is also an associate research fellow of CIRANO and a research associate of CREATE, a research institute in the economics of the environment, agriculture, transportation and energy at Laval University in Quebec City.

His research has been published in internationally recognized economic journals, including: Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Journal of Public Economics; American Economic Journals: Microeconomics; Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization; Economics Letters; Canadian Journal of Economics; American Journal of Agricultural Economics; Experimental Economics; Agricultural and Resource Economics Review; and Resource and Energy Economics and in the top journals in the field of environmental and resource economics: the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management; Environmental and Resource Economics; Resource and Energy Economics; and Land Economics.

Two of Dr. Rondeau’s papers have received academic awards. His 2012 paper with Christian Vossler and Maurice Doyon on the role of incentive compatibility in environmental valuation (American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2012) received the 2022 publication of enduring quality award from the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society. His paper with Jon Conrad on the optimal management of abalone colonies afflicted by a virus was selected as the best paper published in Marine Resource Economics in 2015. 

Interests

• Environmental & natural resource economics
• Experimental economics

Research projects

Dr. Rondeau’s most recent research includes an early study of the impact of COVID-19 on biodiversity, and a study of the value of wetlands in Quebec.

Dr. Rondeau’s research projects apply experimental methods and mechanism design to contemporary environmental issues. In a project sponsored by the Quebec Federation of Egg Producers, Dr. Rondeau and Dr. Maurice Doyon from Laval University have devised a new auction mechanism for the trading of production quota among producers.

Dr. Rondeau created a new market allocation mechanism designed to provide efficient trading, but also to steer the uniform auction price to the lower end of the theoretically predicted range and limit the market power of sellers in these thin markets. Experimental testing of the auction demonstrated the ability of the proposed auction to meet the goals and objectives of egg producers, and has led to its implementation in the field.

Further work on this auction mechanism is underway as a different association of agricultural producers is now moving towards its implementation as well.

In another recently completed project, Dr. Rondeau and colleagues conducted field experiments to estimate the aesthetic and non-use benefits of tree plantations on private agricultural land. In this project, Dr. Rondeau was responsible for the development of a theoretical framework guiding the development of discrete choice valuation experiments with real implementations.

The project aimed in part to demonstrate how experimental methods can be used to advance research and policy development in agriculture, and provide a greater understanding of the validity of non-market valuation methods. The results of this research will be an integral part of the ecological-economic model to be built as part of the proposed research project.

Dr. Rondeau has led or collaborated on several projects where experimental methods are applied to test the validity of non-market valuation methods. This work has covered the influence of altruism and other forms of other-regarding preferences on valuation results; mechanism design for testing the validity of the contingent valuation method; and a series of research experiments in the lab and in the field, testing various approaches to enhance private contributions towards the funding of public goods.

In the most recent of these projects, Dr. Rondeau designed a novel payment mechanism for a study of the costs of conservation rules on residents of rural Uganda. The mechanism led to a significant reduction in the number of protest bids and outliers.    

Dr. Rondeau also conducted several studies on the economics of human-wildlife conflicts on agricultural land and in suburban areas. He has studied the economics of conflicts with deer, wolf, elephants, and wildebeest, investigating alternative management strategies both theoretically and numerically in order to recommend optimal action plans.

Courses

• ECON 203, Intermediate Microeconomics I
• ECON 351, Mathematical Economics II: An Introduction to Dynamic Methods
• ECON 382, Natural Resource Economics I
• ECON 400, Advanced Microeconomic Theory
• ECON 450, Game Theory in Economics
• ECON 530, Economics of Natural Resources
• ECON 550, Game Theory in Economics

Selected publications

(for complete list, check Dr. Rondeau's website):

• Vossler, C.A., M. Doyon, S. Bergeron and D. Rondeau. 2023. "Revisiting the gap between the willingness-to-pay and willingness-to-accept for public goods." Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. 10(2): 413-445.
• Conrad, J.M. and Rondeau, D., 2020. Natural resource economics: analysis, theory, and applications. Cambridge University Press.
• Rondeau, D., B. Perry, and F. Grimard. "The Consequences of COVID-19 and Other Disasters for Wildlife and Biodiversity." forthcoming, 2020, environmental and resource economics.
• Bateman, I.J., A. Dannenberg, R. Elliott, M. Finus, P. Koundouri, K. Millock, A. Munro, E.J.Z Robinson, D. Rondeau, I. Schumacher, E. Strobl, and A. Xepapadeas. "Economics of the Environment in the Shadow of Coronavirus." forthcoming, 2020, Environmental and Resource Economics.
• Bull, C., Courty, M. Doyon and D. Rondeau, forthcoming (2019). "Failure of the Becker-Degroot-Marschak Mechanism in Inexperienced Subjects: New Tests of the Game Form Misconception Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization.
• Chassin, D. & Rondeau, D. "Aggregate modeling of fast-acting demand response and control under real-time pricing." Applied Energy 181:288-298.
• Rondeau, D.,  Courtyand M. Doyon, 2016. Simultaneous Allocation of Bundled Goods through Auctions: Assessing the Case for Joint Bidding, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 98(3): 838-859.
• Conrad, J.M. and  Rondeau, 2015. Bioeconomics of a Marine Disease, Marine Resource Economics30(4): 393-416.
• Courty, P.,  Rondeauand M. Doyon, 2015. Unbundling Truthful Revelation when Auctioning Bundled Goods, Economics Bulletin 35(4): 2512-2517.
• Lafferty, K., Harvell, D., Conrad, J.M., Friedman, C.S. Kent, M.L., Kuris, A.M., Powell, E.N., Rondeau, D. Saksida, S.M. 2015. "Infectious diseases affect marine fisheries and aquaculture economics." Annual Review of Marine Sciences7:471-496.
• Bush, G., N. Hanley, M. Moro and  Rondeau, 2013. Measuring the Local Costs of Conservation: A Provision Point Mechanism for Eliciting Willingness to Accept Compensation, Land Economics89(3): 490-513.
• Vossler, C.A., M. Doyon and  Rondeau, 2012. Truth in Consequentiality: Theory and Field Evidence on Discrete Choice Experiments, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics4(4): 145-171.
• Linnell, J.D.C., D. Rondeau, D.H. Reed, R. Williams, R. Altwegg, C.J. Raxworthy, J.D. Austin, N. Hanley, H. Fritz, D.M. Evans, I.J. Gordon, B. Reyers, S. Redpath, and N. Pettorelli. 2010. “Confronting The Costs and Conflicts Associated with Biodiversity." Animal Conservation 13(5):428-430.
• Doyon, M., D. Rondeau and R. Mbala. 2010. "Keep It Down: An Experimental Test of the Truncated K-Double Auction." Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 39(2):193-212.
• Messer, K., G.L. Poe, D. Rondeau, W.D. Schulze and C. Vossler. 2010. "Social Preferences and Voting: An Exploration Using A Novel Preference Revealing Mechanism." Journal of Public Economics 94(3-4):308-317.
• Rondeau, D. and J.A. List. 2008. "Matching and Challenge Gifts To Charity: Evidence From Laboratory and Natural Field Experiments." Experimental Economics 11(3):253-267.
• Bulte, E.H. and D. Rondeau. 2007. "Compensation For Wildlife Damage: Habitat Conversion, Species Preservation and Local Welfare." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 54(3):311-322.
• Rondeau, D. and E.H. Bulte. 2007. "Wildlife Damage and Agriculture: A Dynamic Analysis of Compensation Schemes." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 89 (2): 490-507.
• Bulte, E.H. and D. Rondeau. 2005. "Why Compensating for Wildlife Damages May Be Bad for Conservation." Journal of Wildlife Management 69(1):14-19.
• Rondeau, D., G.L. Poe and W.D. Schulze. 2005. "VCM or PPM? A Comparison of the Performance of Two Voluntary Public Goods Mechanisms." Journal of Public Economics 89:1581-1592.
• Buttle, J. and D. Rondeau. 2004. "An Incremental Analysis of The Value of Expanding a Wilderness Area". Canadian Journal Of Economics 37(1):189-198.
• List, J.A. and D. Rondeau. 2003. "The Impact of Challenge Gifts on Charitable Giving: An Experimental Investigation". Economics Letters 79:153-159.
• Ferraro, P., D. Rondeau and G.L. Poe. 2003. "Detecting Other-Regarding Behavior with Virtual Players." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 51:99-109.
• Rondeau, D. and J.M. Conrad. 2003. "Managing Urban Deer". American Journal of Agricultural Economics 85(1): 266-281.
• Poe, G.L., J. Clark, D. Rondeau and W.D. Schulze. 2002. "Provision Point Mechanisms and Field Validity Tests of Contingent Valuation." Environmental and Resource Economics 23:105-131.
• Schulze, W.D., G.L. Poe, I. Bateman and D. Rondeau. 2002. "Is The Scope Test Meaningful in the Presence of Other-Regarding Behaviour?" In J.A. List and A. De Zeeuw Eds., Recent Advances in Environmental, Resource and Energy Economics Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar Publisher, pp. 365-384.
• Rose, S.K., J. Clark, G.L. Poe, D. Rondeau and W.D. Schulze. 2002. "The Private Provision of Public Goods: Test of a Provision Point Mechanism For Funding Green Power Programs." Resource And Energy Economics 24:131-155.
• Rondeau, D. 2001. "Along The Way Back From The Brink." Journal Of Environmental Economics and Management 42:156-182.