This paper examines infrastructure spending in a model economy. Infrastructure is subdivided into two types: one that makes future production more efficient, and another that decreases the risk of devastation to the future economy. We call the first type base infrastructure, and the second type risk-reducing infrastructure. Our model assumes that a single representative individual makes all the decisions within a society and optimizes their own total utility over the present and future. We then calibrate an aggregate economic, two-period model to identify the optimal allocation of today’s output into consumption, base infrastructure, and risk-reducing infrastructure. This model finds that many governments can make substantive improvements to the happiness of their citizens by investing significantly more into risk-reducing infrastructure.

The Philippines relies on a vast biodiversity of fishes as a staple food, but like many countries around the globe, experiences severe “leakages” of contaminants and pollutants in the environment. In order to better understand the relationship between environmental pollutants and public health, this research project measured the concentration of pollutants in a commonly consumed local fish (Siganus fuscescens), and then evaluated the potential health risks of eating this fish based on estimated average consumer weight and consumption levels. Fish sampled from four different sites located in Negros Oriental, Philippines were analyzed for organic contaminants using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Pollutants quantified included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, phthalates, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs). Across the four study sites, fishes from Manjuyod showed the highest frequency of detection of different pollutants. However, phthalates and PAHs were found in similar concentrations in all four sites, with fishes from Dumaguete showing the highest level of PCBs compared to the other sampled sites. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s guide for fish contaminants pinpoints several health risks associated with the chronic ingestion of these contaminants. Based on estimated average body weights of Filipino adult men, adult women, and children, and various consumption levels, people who eat the fish at or above the national average consumption level may be at increased risk for chronic health outcomes, such as cancer and/or other adverse effects. Specifically, due to the high concentration of PCBs in Dumaguete, selected populations who eat local fish from this site may be at higher risk than the citizens who eat the fish from other sites at similar consumption rates. These results can help to inform local and national policies on water quality, waste disposal, and fish consumption advisory programs.

This study aims to examine the relationship between urban densification and pedestrian thermal comfort at different times of the year, and to understand how this can impact patterns of activity in downtown areas. The focus of the research is on plazas in the urban core of downtown Tempe, given their importance to the pedestrian landscape. With that in mind, the research question for the study is: how does the microclimate of a densifying urban core affect thermal comfort in plazas at different times of the year? Based on the data, I argue that plazas in downtown Tempe are not maximally predisposed to pedestrian thermal comfort in the summer or the fall. Thus, the proposed intervention to improve thermal comfort in downtown Tempe’s plazas is the implementation of decision support tools focused on education, community engagement, and thoughtful building designs for heat safety.