A1 Journal article (refereed)
Value of information in multiple criteria decision making : an application to forest conservation (2019)

Eyvindson, K., Hakanen, J., Mönkkönen, M., Juutinen, A., & Karvanen, J. (2019). Value of information in multiple criteria decision making : an application to forest conservation. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 33(11-12), 2007-2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-019-01745-4

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Eyvindson, Kyle; Hakanen, Jussi; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Juutinen, Artti; Karvanen, Juha

Journal or series: Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment

ISSN: 1436-3240

eISSN: 1436-3259

Publication year: 2019

Volume: 33

Issue number: 11-12

Pages range: 2007-2018

Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Publication country: Germany

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-019-01745-4

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/66164

Additional information: Supplemental material in JYX: R code to allow for replication of the results. (Please see the link above.)

Abstract

Developing environmental conservation plans involves assessing trade-offs between the benefits and costs of conservation. The benefits of conservation can be established with ecological inventories or estimated based on previously collected information. Conducting ecological inventories can be costly, and the additional information may not justify these costs. To clarify the value of these inventories, we investigate the multiple criteria value of information associated with the acquisition of improved ecological data. This information can be useful when informing the decision maker to acquire better information. We extend the concept of the value of information to a multiple criteria perspective. We consider value of information for both monetary and biodiversity criteria and do not assume any fixed budget limits. Two illustrative cases are used describe this method of evaluating the multiple criteria value of information. In the first case, we numerically evaluate the multiple criteria value of information for a single forest stand. In the second case, we present a forest planning case with four stands that describes the complex interactions between the decision maker’s preference information and the potential inventory options available. These example cases highlight the importance of examining the trade-offs when making conservation decisions. We provide a definition for the multiple criteria value of information and demonstrate the potential application when conservation issues conflict with monetary issues.

Keywords: forest conservation; nature conservation; decision making; criteria; optimisation; simulation; multi-objective optimisation; Bayesian analysis

Free keywords: Bayesian decision theory; conservation planning; decision analysis; information updating; optimization; simulation; trade-offs

Contributing organizations

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2019

JUFO rating: 1