Jon Hecht, Ph.D.

Dr. Hecht is an environmental economist with more than 19 years of experience in economic analysis, policy analysis, and research. His primary areas of expertise are in environmental economics, cost-benefit analysis, regulatory economics, and decision analysis. Dr. Hecht is an expert in estimating the monetary value of “non-market” benefits, such as improvements in environmental quality, public health, safety, and security. Dr. Hecht has over 10 years of experience in the economic analysis of climate change and in evaluating the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation measures.

Dr. Hecht is responsible for managing tasks and contracts with the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal and state agencies. He directs and manages complex quantitative and analytic components of projects, and is responsible for budget management, project deliverables, client relations, and staff supervision. Dr. Hecht works within multi-disciplinary teams in the preparation of reports, briefings, and other project deliverables. Peer-reviewed publications by Dr. Hecht have been cited more than 80 times.

Before joining Abt, Dr. Hecht supported the Federal Highway Administration by evaluating best practices for conducting economic analyses of resilience and adaptation measures. He also recently conducted a project for the Bureau of Land Management to estimate the economic benefits to ecosystem services that resulted from efforts to conserve the habitat of Greater Sage-grouse. Dr. Hecht also supported the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Low Emissions Asian Development program by developing an approach that used triple bottom line valuation to evaluate the contributions of protected areas to sustainability goals.

Expertise

• Environmental economics
• Regulatory economics
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Cost-effectiveness analysis
• Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis
• Ecosystem service valuation
• Economic impact analysis
• Decision analysis
• Survey design and implementation

Key Projects

• National Contingency Plan: Subpart J Regulatory Support, EPA Office of Emergency Management
• Clean Water Act Hazardous Substances Worst-Case Discharge Planning Regulatory Support, EPA Office of Emergency Management
• Estimating the Value of Reduced Risk of Low Birthweight, EPA National Center for Environmental Economics
• Climate Integration Support Facility – Case Studies, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Research and Literature Review of Partnerships, Federal Highway Administration
• Workplace Violence in the Healthcare Sector, Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Publications

• Hecht, J., S. Reid, and A. Chalak. (2015). A Marketing Analysis of the Equitability of Water/Sewage Service Improvements. Journal of the American Water Works Association. 107(4): E224-E233.
• Chalak, A, J. Hecht, S. Reid, and M. Abiad. (2012). Willingness-to-Pay for Greenhouse Gas Reductions: A Bayesian Investigation of Distributional Patterns. Environmental Science and Policy. 19-20: 147-157.
• Reid, S., A. Chalak, and J. Hecht. 2010. Determining the Optimal Investment Plan for Water Utilities: The Case of Veolia Water Central. Water Science and Technology. 10(3): 367-375.
• Kramer, R., J. Eisen-Hecht, and G. Vaughan (Thurston, H.W., M.T. Heberling, and A. Schrecongost, editors). (2009). Economics of Ecosystem Management for the Catawba River Basin. Environmental Economics for Watershed Management. Taylor and Francis, Inc. Boca Raton, FL.
• Eisen-Hecht, J. and R. Kramer. (2002). A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Water Quality Protection in the Catawba Basin. Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 38(2): 453-465.