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This paper uses a combination of the contingent valuation method (CVM) and value transfer (VT) to estimate the value of non-market benefits associated with the achievement of good (marine) environmental status (GES) as specified in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) for Atlantic member states. The increased use of geographic information systems in VT means that many VT exercises now include spatial elements such as distance decay and population density. This paper explores impact of distance decay on welfare estimates as well as the impact from the modifiable area unit problem (MAUP) when population density is included as an explanatory variable. These issues can have a large effect on a VT estimate. In this study the overall value for achieving GES for Atlantic member states varied between €2.37billion and €3.64 billion. It was found that the different distance decay specifications changed values between −3% and 82% with a mean absolute difference of 25% and by adjusting the spatial scale in an effort to overcome the MAUP changed aggregate values between 13% and 25% with a mean of 17%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better interpret preference data, environmental economists often measure two different types of attitudes: general environmental attitudes, and attitudes specific to an issue. Although methods such as joint latent class modeling can relate these measures to stated preference data, economics literature offers limited guidance on important details, including the relative merits of the two attitude types. This paper analyzes survey data about the management of the invasive, non-native fungus that causes the lethal disease white pine blister rust in high-elevation forests, a problem characterized by long time scales and potentially costly interventions of uncertain efficacy. The paper uses novel techniques for comparing across latent class model specifications to evaluate the relative contribution of general and specific attitude measures to the analysis of contingent valuation data. These demonstrate insights from investigating heterogeneity in respondents' perspectives and superior model performance with specific attitude statements versus with general attitude statements. In addition to the practical content, these results offer novel insight into ongoing debate on the meaning of stated preference valuation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exhibits the multiple dimensions of the cost of stopping the main driver of deforestation in Madagascar, slash-and-burn agriculture (tavy). As well as being a major component of the economic livelihoods of most local households living at the edge of forests, tavy has been described by anthropologists as an important cultural practice. In this paper, we show that stopping tavy does not only entail an economic cost for local households. The loss of the cultural dimension of tavy would come at an additional “cultural cost” for some. Our results suggest that a viable cessation of deforestation in Madagascar would require going beyond simple compensation of the opportunity costs of avoiding deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of direct compensation payments for agrobiodiversity conservation, using minor millet landraces in India as an example. The cost of farmer participation in a hypothetical ‘payments for agrobiodiversity conservation services’ (PACS) scheme is estimated using a stated preference valuation approach. Significant inter-crop and inter-varietal differences are observed with respect to consumption values, upon which the compensation demanded by farm households is shown to primarily depend. Drawing on a categorisation of consumption values and farmer preferences, the paper points to the importance of simultaneously considering a range of potential interventions in order to conserve a priority portfolio of agrobiodiverse resources in predominantly subsistence-based agricultural systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper demonstrates how ecosystem services can be viewed and studied as a social practice of value articulation. With this follows that when ecosystem services appear as objects of calculated value in decision-making they are already tainted by the social and cannot be viewed as merely reflecting an objective biophysical reality. Using urban case studies of place-based struggles in Stockholm and Cape Town, we demonstrate how values are relationally constructed through social practice. The same analysis is applied on ecosystem services. Of special interest is the TEEB Manual that uses a consultancy report on the economic evaluation of Cape Town's ‘natural assets’ to describe a step-by-step method to catalog, quantify and price certain aspects of urban nature. The Manual strives to turn the ecosystem services approach into a transportable method, capable of objectively measuring the values of urban nature everywhere, in all cities in the world. With its gesture of being universal and objective, the article suggests that the ecosystem services approach is a technology of globalization that de-historicizes and de-ecologizes debates on urbanized ecologies, effectively silencing other—and often marginalized—ways of knowing and valuing. The paper inscribes ecosystem services as social practice, as part of historical process, and as inherently political. A call is made for critical ethnographies of how ecosystem services and urban sustainability indicators are put into use to change local decision-making while manufacturing global expertise. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The spatial distribution of agri-environmental policy benefits has important implications for the efficient allocation of management effort. The practical convenience of relying on sample mean values of individual benefits for aggregation can come at the cost of biased aggregate estimates. The main objective of this paper is to test spatial hypotheses regarding respondents'' local water quality and quantity, and their willingness-to-pay for improvements in water quality attributes. This paper combines choice experiment and spatially related water quality data via a Geographical Information System (GIS) to develop a method that evaluates the influence of respondents'' local water quality on willingness-to-pay for river and stream conservation programmes in Canterbury, New Zealand. Results showed that those respondents who live in the vicinity of low quality waterways are willing to pay more for improvements relative to those who live near to high quality waterways. The study also found that disregarding the influence of respondents'' local water quality data has a significant impact on the magnitude of welfare estimates and causes substantial underestimation of aggregated benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Contingent valuation has been used extensively in estimating the value of environmental goods. One criticism of this approach, however, is that respondents in referendum-style contingent valuation surveys may express citizen assessments that take into account benefits to others rather than benefits that accrue purely to the respondent themselves. Within this context, the aim of this paper is to examine to what extent individuals express different preferences when adopting a personal or a social/citizen perspective. While this paper provides some support for the hypothesis that individuals express different preferences when adopting collective as opposed to personal choices, reported willingness to pay (WTP) was found to be insensitive to whether or not the respondents were asked the WTP question from a personal or social perspective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses on a set of issues when choosing between methods for environmental appraisal. Approaches like cost benefit analysis/contingent valuation, multicriteria analysis and deliberative methods are based on very different assumptions concerning the characteristics of environmental resources, the capacities of the individuals involved and the role the methods play in framing the process. The present paper views environmental appraisal methods as institutional structures. They are seen as rules concerning a) who should participate and in which capacity, b) what is considered data and which form data should take, and c) rules about how a conclusion is reached. Specifically, the choice of method defines the logic of the appraisal process and next influences the output. While cost benefit analysis is based on the assumption of individual rationality, deliberative methods assume that individuals can act according to social rationality. The first part of the paper is devoted to clarifying what institutions are and their role in the valuation process. Second, the main features of environmental or ecosystem services and the demands they raise for decision-making are described. A general framework for evaluating appraisal methods is then developed. Finally, this structure is elaborated in more detail as a basis for deciding over the choices of methods in the case of evaluating ecosystem services. A set of unresolved issues are identified ¿ especially related to how the choice of appraisal methods themselves should be instituted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is about how institutions determine choices and the importance of this for environmental policy. The model of individual rational choice from neoclassical economics is compared with the model of socially determined behavior. While in the first case, institutions are either exempted from or understood as mere economizing constraints on behavior, the latter perspective views institutions as basic structures necessary also to enable people to act. The paper develops a way to integrate the individualistic model into the wider perspective of social constructivism by viewing it as a special form of such construction. On the basis of this synthesis three issues with relevance for environmental economics are discussed. First, the role of institutional factors in the process of preference formation is emphasized. Next, the role of institutions for the choice of desired states of the environment is analyzed. Finally, the effect of various policy instruments to motivate people to produce these states is discussed. It is concluded that the core policy issue is to determine which institutional frameworks are most reasonable to apply to which kind of problem. Issues, which from the perspective of neoclassical economics are pure technical, become serious value questions if understood from an institutional perspective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Economic theory assumes that willingness to pay (WTP) increases with the quantity of the consumed good. This implies that there should be a scope effect in contingent valuation studies. However, in previous issues of Ecological Economics , several authors criticized the contingent valuation (CV) method for the absence of such effect or its inadequacy. In this paper, we contribute to this ongoing debate by proposing to systematically apply several WTP statistical distribution assumptions to test for scope effects and check its plausibility, following Whitehead’s (2016) recent recommendations. We perform this approach using data from a Swiss case study assessing the WTP for an increased surface of forest reserves. We find that both mean WTP and scope effects are sensitive to the statistical distribution assumption. Regarding plausibility, scope elasticities provide mixed result and also depend on the assumed statistical distribution of WTP. For small sample size CV studies, a non-parametric analysis, a spike model or an open-ended format can thus be better suited to reveal scope effects than the classical parametric dichotomous choice analysis. We thus recommend to systematically apply several statistical distribution assumptions of WTP to test for scope effects and their plausibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the temporal stability of willingness to pay estimates (WTP) under changing economic conditions. Specifically, two questions are addressed: a) is WTP stable over time? And b) if it is not, are the changes just driven by socio-economic effects, or something else? In order to investigate these questions, we used data from the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) study conducted after the Prestige oil spill in Spain in 2006, and a second wave of the same survey repeated in 2009, after Spain entered a serious recession. Median WTP estimates dropped from €60.36 in 2006 to €26.92 in 2009 per household, a statistically significant reduction. To investigate the amount of the drop in WTP due to observables versus changes in preferences between 2006 and 2009, we use the 2006 logit WTP coefficient estimates with 2009 levels of the independent variables and we obtain a WTP of €46.37. This estimate is statistically different from the 2009 estimate (€26.92). In the same fashion, by using 2009 logit WTP coefficients with 2006 data, we obtain an estimate of €50.29, also different from the 2006 estimate. Implications of these findings for temporal stability of welfare measures and benefit transfer exercises are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential link between the sensitivity of willingness to pay (WTP) to the order of presenting bid amounts in contingent valuation questions (ordering effect) and respondent uncertainty. The resource being valued is a public project to protect salt marshes against the spread of an invasive aquatic plant in the Brest roadstead (France). Valuation uncertainty is captured through a variant of payment card format where respondents are given the opportunity to report their WTP as either a single value (Option A) or an interval of values (Option B). The ordering effect is tested using both parametric models that ignore and control for the potential sample selection bias related to the choice between Option A and Option B, as well as non-parametric models. The results suggest that (1) respondents place substantial WTP values on salt marsh conservation, and (2) the ordering effect is linked to respondent uncertainty since only uncertain respondents react differently to changes in the order of presenting bid amounts. Specifically, for uncertain respondents, putting bid amounts in ascending order yields lower welfare estimates than putting bid amounts in descending order or random order. Policy recommendations and options to deal with ordering effect are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the performance of common approaches in international benefit transfer using data from identical and simultaneous contingent valuation studies on marine water quality in nine European countries. The environmental good is shared by the study countries, but the countries differ substantially in their income levels and other characteristics. We compare the performance of value transfers (with or without income elasticity of willingness to pay adjustments) and function transfers that include only core variables supported by economic theory. Our results point to a new source of uncertainty associated with function transfer – choosing a particular functional form. Even if only theoretically relevant explanatory variables are used, the theory offers no insights with respect to a functional relationship of the dependence (e.g., linear, log-linear, exponential, polynomial). We show that while different functional forms may offer improvements in model fit, this does not necessarily translate to improvements in transfer errors or minimum tolerance levels. In our case, the value transfer with constant (unit) income elasticity adjustment, corresponding to the log-log functional relationship between willingness to pay and income, performs the best. Including additional explanatory variables or using other functional forms worsens the quality of transfers. Overall, our study questions the rationale for using more complicated function transfers in international benefit transfers, as the relationships observed within a country or a group of countries does not necessarily translate to dependencies between countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chile is one of the ten most underfunded countries for conservation of protected areas in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated protected areas' funding situation by severely reducing tourism revenues. This paper studies whether Chilean households would be willing to support protected areas through donations or tariffs. Using a contingent valuation approach, we find that the average willingness to pay ranges from US$ 3 to US$ 8 per household per month, depending on specification. Estimated willingness to pay is 23% to 36% lower when households are asked to pay via tariffs instead of donations. We discuss our results relative to previous literature and evaluate its policy implications in the Chilean context. We find that a flat tariff sufficient for covering 70% of the current funding gap would be acceptable to 74% of Chile's households. • Chilean households would be willing to support protected areas through donations or tariffs. • About half of Chileans would be willing to pay either US$ 6 or US$ 8 per month, depending on the type of payment vehicle. • 74% of Chile's households would be willing to pay US$ 0.7 per month, which would cover about 70% of the current funding gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to determine and characterize social and cultural preferences for the conservation of endangered forest elephants (EFEs) in the Congo Basins Tridom Landscape. Using unique data from a stratified, random, face-to-face survey with 1,035 households in 108 villages in 2014, we combine double-bounded dichotomous choice with open-ended elicitation formats to assess the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for EFE conservation. We find that local households are willing to pay CFA 1,139.4 (€1.74) per month to prevent EFE extinction. This totals CFA 753.9 million (€1.15 million) per year for all inhabitants. Indigenousness positively influences the WTP for EFE conservation. Spatial data suggest that local communities prefer that elephants remain far from their crops. The existence of human-elephant conflicts has a neutral effect on preferences for EFE conservation. Therefore, our study suggests that local communities would engage in biodiversity preservation when the public benefits of conservation are accompanied by private benefits, such as human-elephant conflict avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether people value the environmental goods created as a result of the human-nature interaction. Using the novel face-to-face survey data collected in Vladivostok, the Far East of Russia, we examine the use and non-use value of a so-called Glass Beach. This beach is made of eroded glass fragments, a waste from human activities that has been recycled and processed by nature, creating a unique recreational site. Employing the contingent valuation technique, we elicit the individual willingness to pay of residents in Vladivostok for the preservation of the Glass Beach. We find that the total annual economic benefit based on the use and non-use values is 3.52 million USD, of which 3.3 million USD correspond to the non-use value part associated with the preservation of this beach for future generations. If the Glass Beach is not preserved, the total economic benefit converts to the welfare loss. We also find that visits to the Glass Beach increase the life satisfaction of residents. These results underscore the uniqueness of this site and may serve as the first step in designing beach management policies aimed at its preservation and at sustainable development of this coastal region. Our findings also open the discussion on the types of environmental sites and waste that can be considered as a "good" rather than a "bad", such that people benefit from the consumption of their associated services. • The Glass Beach is created as a result of the human-nature interaction. • CV and life satisfaction approaches are applied. • The use and non-use values of the beach are estimated. • People would like to preserve the beach for future generations. • Individual attitudes affect the willingness to pay for the preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report on the results of the application of a latent class model that was designed to identify and characterize unobserved preference heterogeneity in the context of a willingness-to-accept (WTA) framework involving negative environmental externalities stemming from the expansion of the Port of Valencia. We investigated the hypothesis that respondents with greater familiarity with the targeted good and any related environmental damage would demand more compensation; that is, they would have a significantly higher WTA. Based on respondents' familiarity with the Port of Valencia and their pre-existing knowledge about the negative consequences of its potential expansion three clusters based on six indicators are identified. Results show that, contrary to what might be expected, familiarity with a public good does not in all cases have a significant effect on stated WTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To estimate the value of an improvement in the provision of an ecosystem service, analysts often use an intervention framework in a stated preference experiment. An intervention framework is defined by (i) an intervention, such as a publicly-funded program, and (ii) the intervention effect — the difference in the provision of the ecosystem service with and without the intervention. The contention of this paper is that if the purpose of an experiment is to estimate the value of the intervention effect , rather than the intervention itself, consideration needs to be given to the saliency of the service to the respondent population, because for salient services respondents often have prior beliefs about the intervention effect, and if these prior beliefs are different on average than implicitly assumed or explicitly presented in the choice experiment, the estimate of the value of the improvement will be biased. We emphasize that in some cases a structural model can be used to identify the value of the intervention effect, whereas for others, only the value of the intervention can be identified. We illustrate the issue using two case studies concerning ecosystem service provision on freshwater lakes, prevention of aquatic species invasions, and fish habitat enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses spatial heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent (SHAC) hedonic property price analysis of house sales during 2000–2011 to estimate the marginal value of in stream flows and proximity to an iconic freshwater ecosystem, the Barmah–Millewa Forest (BMF) in Australia's Murray–Darling Basin. We establish: (1) that proximity to the BMF is a statistically significant and positive determinant of nearby house prices in Victoria and New South Wales, i.e. for an average property worth $199,000 that is 10 km away from the BMF, moving 1 km closer will increase sales price by $2000; and (2) a non-linear relationship between in stream flow and sales price which is suggestive of homebuyer preferences for flow that is neither low (i.e. drought flows) nor high (i.e. flood flows). The results provide estimates of the benefits of in stream flow that could be used to inform freshwater ecosystem restoration policy in the basin and are suggestive of regional benefits that accrue to homeowners living near key freshwater-dependent ecosystems in the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a behavioral approach to determine the extent to which the consumer/citizen distinction affects interpretations of monetary values in stated preferences methods. We perform a field experiment dealing with air pollution, where some (randomly selected) subjects are given the opportunity to behave politically by signing a petition for environmental protection prior to stating their private preferences in a standard contingent valuation exercise. We show that signing has the potential to influence respondents' willingness to pay values. Results indicate that even market-like situations are not immune to citizen behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Oil spills are capable of causing major environmental insults that raise the emotional loads of individuals across society. In this paper we consider the role of emotions in heterogeneous responses of individuals in the non-market valuation of an oil prevention program in Spain. Heterogeneity is modeled with a smoothly mixing regression (SMR) model that allows researchers to explain the probability that individuals belong to the latent segments of WTP. The results show that heterogeneity in WTP responses is explained by the specific emotional reactions of individuals (upset, sadness, indifference) rather than by their socioeconomic characteristics. Thus, the investigation of the emotional reactions of individuals can provide useful tools for the design of non-market valuation studies, providing more accurate predictions of the potential behavior of individuals in constructed markets for damage assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though surface water has been polluted almost everywhere in China, few economic valuation studies have been conducted to value water quality changes. This paper reports an economic valuation study conducted in Yunnan, China, which estimates the total value of a real investment project to improve the water quality of Lake Puzhehei by one grade level. Located in Qiubei County far from big cities, the lake has been experiencing rapid water quality deterioration in past several years. Based on the multiple bounded discrete choice approach, an average household in Qiubei County is estimated to be willing to pay 30 yuan per month continuously for 5 years for the water quality improvement by one grade level, roughly equivalent to 3% of the average household income. The elasticity of willingness-to-pay with respect to income is estimated to be 0.21. The economic rate of return of the proposed project is estimated to be 18%, indicating an economically favorable investment in water quality improvement. This study also demonstrates that the previous knowledge about the water quality changes and about the project can have significant positive impacts on people's willingness to pay, whereas the interviewer effect on valuation can be negative. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we propose an alternative preference uncertainty measurement approach where respondents have the option to indicate their willingness to pay (WTP) for a nature protection program either as exact values or intervals from a payment card, depending on whether they are uncertain about their valuation. On the basis of their responses, we then estimate their degree of uncertainty. New within this study is that the respondent's degree of uncertainty is “revealed”, while it is “stated” in those using existing measurement methods. Three statistical models are used to explore the sources of respondent uncertainty. We also present a simple way of calculating the uncertainty adjusted mean WTP, and compare this to the one obtained from an interval regression. Our findings in terms of determinants of preference uncertainty are broadly consistent with a priori expectations. In addition, the uncertainty adjusted mean WTP is quite similar to the one derived from an interval regression. We conclude that our method is promising in accounting for preference uncertainty in WTP answers at little cost to interviewees in terms of time and cognitive effort, on the one hand, and without researcher assumptions regarding the interpretation of degrees of uncertainty reported by respondents, on the other. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and its adjoining areas serve not only as a geopolitical buffering zone between North and South Korea, but also as rare refuges for various animals and plants. This paper investigates conservation values of major DMZ resources and comparatively tests distance decay between contingent valuation and choice modelling. The overall conservation value for the DMZ resources per person as one-off payments was $9.06 or $34.97, respectively from the CVM and CM datasets. Research findings deny distance decay regardless of elicitation methods when the distance variable is parameterised as part of utility functions. Conversely, a segmentation-valuation approach demonstrates conflicting conclusions on distance decay and the WTP anomaly between users and non-users depending on elicitation methods. The CM results demonstrate that protection of the DMZ resources might be less important and attractive to local populations than to those in the distant regions. A direct cross-method transfer of any distance effect might not be granted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The standard test for scope sensitivity in contingent valuation studies determines whether the response to changes in scope is statistically significant; it does not address whether the magnitude of response is appropriate given the specified changes in scope. We examine contingent valuation studies that implemented scope tests to determine what they imply about the adequacy of response to scope. We find that in the vast majority of studies, the magnitude of response cannot be assessed. Only three studies permit such an assessment: Samples and Hollyer (1990), Diamond et al. (1993) and Chapman et al. (2009). The first two papers find that responses to their surveys did not vary adequately with scope. The third study passed the standard scope test, but we show that the magnitude of response in this study is inadequate by straightforward methods of assessment and cannot be explained by diminishing marginal utility or substitution. More research is needed on this issue, including wider application of adding-up tests on incremental parts, as well as the development of other methods that permit an assessment of the magnitude of response or other tests of rationality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Non-market valuation approaches for estimating the social value of biodiversity and individual species need to enhance their policy relevance. The concept of service-providing unit (SPU) may help achieve this objective by promoting the systematic quantification of the key components of nature that provide services for human wellbeing. The present paper is the first application of the SPU concept in stated preference surveys. The object of valuation is the highly endangered Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus). A split-sample is used testing the hypotheses that the SPU framework would: 1) minimize the part of non-use values that is due to a ‘warm glow’ effect and therefore 2) encourage respondents in reallocating part of their total economic value towards use values. Our results indicate that the difference between the means of existence values in the two sub-samples is statistically insignificant: in both cases respondents attribute a significant percentage of their total economic value to existence value. On the other hand though, the non-use value component of WTP decreases in the sub-sample with SPU in relation to the sub-sample without it. We conclude that existence values in our sample are based on solid preferences related to the species since they persisted in both sub-samples. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many studies in the stated preference literature on environmental valuation do not include the effects of substitutes and distance in willingness-to-pay (WTP) models, in spite of the relevance of these effects in aggregation and benefit transfer. Heterogeneity in the availability of substitutes over space may cause multidirectional distance effects in WTP. As a result, disregarding this spatial heterogeneity may lead to biased estimators of the distance effect and associated WTP values (Cameron, 2006). In this paper, we demonstrate that distance decay is subject to significant directional effects which tend to be related to differences in the availability of substitutes across the study area. We apply a straightforward methodology to account for such spatial heterogeneity in choice experiments and assess the effect on WTP for improvements in ecosystem services in a lake district. We model distance-decay effects, whilst controlling for heterogeneity between users and non-users and non-use related WTP reasons. The directional effects result in significantly different WTP estimates, different market sizes reflecting the population with positive WTP, and differences in total WTP up to 32%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ecosystem services analysis can help recognize the full costs and benefits of land management decisions. Quantification and valuation of services can enhance policies and regulations and, if linked with payments or incentives, properly reward private decisions that yield public benefits. However, the field of ecosystem services research is relatively new and quantification and valuation remains highly uncertain. While there is significant uncertainty about the biophysical production of ecosystem services, there is additional uncertainty about the value of services. This paper explores how uncertainty associated with valuation of ecosystem services in agriculture affects the ranking of land use alternatives in terms of social net benefits. We compare the values of four land use scenarios in the Minnesota River Basin, USA, by combining a range of value estimates for these services with varying estimates for returns from agricultural production. Although variations in ecosystem service values are significant, fluctuations in agricultural returns more significantly determine how scenarios rank with regard to delivery of total value. This analysis suggests that addressing uncertainty in ecosystem service valuation is critical to accurately assessing tradeoffs in land use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Flat fees in payment for environmental services (PES) schemes promote administrative ease, and are perceived as egalitarian. However, when environmental-service (ES) buyers are heterogeneous in their income and water-consumption levels, this scheme may not be optimal, as total payments might become too low and services under-supplied. This paper estimates willingness to pay (WTP) higher fees from hydrological-service buyers in an ongoing PES initiative in an Andean watershed in Colombia, where small, flat user payments have been introduced. ES users fall into two highly heterogeneous categories: smallholder peasants and recreational-house owners. We perform a contingent valuation analysis in a representative sample of 218 households. For improved water services, ES buyers on average are willing to pay monthly about US$1 premium over current flat PES rate. Users’ heterogeneity, however, affects significantly this outcome: while recreational-house owners are willing to pay monthly on average US$1.61 more than the current fee, smallholders only US$0.41. Spatial variables, such as distance to the water distribution point and to the town center, importantly influence WTP. Results may help designing user-driven PES schemes in line with efficiency and equity objectives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses on examining the validity of biodiversity valuation methodologies. The results of a group deliberation technique (deliberative monetary valuation) are compared to those derived from a contingent valuation (CV) survey using the same environmental topic. Evidence is here presented that DMV can address some of the limitations of CV; namely a prevalence for lexicographic preference ordering due to psychological reasons and the lack of a priori or well-formed preferences. Both of these methodological shortcomings can result in protest responses which decrease the external validity of results. It is common environmental valuation methodology practice to exclude protest responses from the analysis on the grounds that they are illegitimate choices, thus the sample and consequently the environmental valuation analysis may become less representative of the population. An advantage of the DMV methodology is that it was found to significantly reduce the rate of protest responses to less than half (from 29% to 13%). Furthermore, DMV significantly increased the proportion of positive bids but not the amounts contributed. In relation to preference formation issues, we suggest rethinking the current practice of the DMV method, and propose dedicating the entire initial discussion session to introducing the good outside of a valuation context. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The combination of travel cost (TCM) and contingent behaviour (CB) methods is a relatively new research avenue in the recreational valuation community. Contrary to simple TCM applications, TCM–CB facilitates the ex ante valuation of marginal welfare effects resulting from environmental quality or quantity changes, similar to the contingent valuation method (CV). Even though TCM–CB is highly policy relevant, i.e. to inform changes in management regimes at recreational sites, the validity of estimates has hardly received any attention and little is known about the performance of TCM–CB compared to CV. In this paper, TCM–CB and CV are explored with respect to several validity tests in a case study on the recreational effects of water level changes in a reservoir. Overall, the findings reveal that TCM–CB and CV perform equally well in terms of theoretical validity, but that the marginal recreational value varies significantly between the two methods. We also observe that both methods face similar internal difficulties with respect to the stability of values when the order of a set of valuation questions is changed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Biodiversity underpins most economic activities in Seychelles, and loss of biodiversity as a result of invasive alien species (IAS) could result in major negative economic impacts for the country. This paper assesses the value of impacts of IAS on biodiversity, natural resources and the national economy, using the principles of total economic value (TEV). The contingent valuation method was used to obtain a willingness to pay (WTP) estimate for a policy to protect important biodiversity from IAS. Tourists indicated a mean WTP of US$52–US$58 on top of their usual expenditures to fund conservation policy. At present approximately US$0.25million per year is spent on IAS control while the economic damage associated with 4 key IAS is approximately US$21million per year. Comparing the benefits from eradication with the costs involved gives a benefit-cost ratio greater than unity, indicating that the policy of eradicating IAS is economically justified. However, there is a long way to go before the resources devoted to the problem will be in proportion to the risks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper aims at investigating the validity of benefit transfer in the case of transfers between countries highly heterogeneous in income, and demonstrates relative performance of different benefit transfer methods under these conditions. Lake water quality valuation studies were conducted in two countries in transition — Poland and the Czech Republic. They reflected two earlier studies carried out in Norway. We examine how income elasticity of WTP varies with the levels of income and find support for applying the income elasticity of 1 to adjust transferred welfare estimates in case of high differences in income between countries. In addition, we show that using site-specific measures of income outperforms transfers based on GPD per capita. The accuracy of benefit transfer is compared using equivalence testing following the TOSC (two one-sided convolutions) test. A new, more informative way of reporting equivalence is proposed, based on computing minimum tolerance level rather than specifying it a priori. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper assesses the value of health risks related to recreational shellfish harvesting. Combining revealed and stated preferences data from an on-site survey and using a pseudo-panel approach shows that people significantly value health risks. The combination of stated and revealed preferences data is realised through the introduction of the concept of a “hypothetical twin site”. Addressing on-site sampling issues within the framework of a random-effect Poisson gamma model allows a derivation of more accurate estimates of welfare measures. Results also suggest that the demand for recreational shellfish harvesting is an inferior good. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The prime objective of this paper is to estimate from a cross-country perspective the willingness to pay for marine turtle conservation using the contingent valuation method. A secondary objective is to investigate two methodological issues about contingent valuation study: scope effect and payment vehicle effect. Using a uniform survey instrument and protocol, a sample of 3680 respondents from Beijing (China), Davao City (Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand) and Ho Chi Minh/Hanoi (Vietnam) were interviewed. Results indicate that the respondents in all cities have a positive willingness to pay for marine turtle conservation. The type of scope effect and payment vehicle effect considered did not seem to be significant in Beijing, Davao City and Bangkok. But some evidence show that there are scope effect and payment vehicle effect in Ho Chi Minh/Hanoi sample. Our study offers practical insights into Asian household preferences for marine turtle conservation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Forest ecosystems provide a variety of valuable goods and services. This paper presents a meta-analysis of forest studies using the Contingent Valuation (CV) method to value the provision of forest values around the world. In this meta-analysis, we estimate the marginal value of different management programs that provide a variety of forest goods and services. Our results show that willingness to pay (WTP) estimates for forest management programs are sensitive to the program's objectives, particularly when linked to the provision of recreational services. Other variables such as the type of forest, location, survey mode, or the type of respondent were also found to significantly affect the WTP estimates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study uses a multi-part, split-sample contingent valuation method (CVM) and fair share (FS) survey to better understand the public's valuation of mitigating global climate change through its willingness to pay for biomass or “cellulosic” ethanol. In addition to a basic CVM question, a related scenario was developed that asked half of the survey respondents to state their fair share cost to lessen a potential food shortage in the next decade, also through the expanded use of cellulosic ethanol. Three alternative biomass feedstocks were assessed: farming residues, forestry residues and paper mill wastes, and municipal solid wastes. Overall a slightly larger proportion of respondents were WTP extra for cellulosic ethanol in the basic CVM scenario than in the FS scenario, though no significant differences were found in the WTP for the different feedstocks. Bid curve lognormal regression results for the two models were similar, supporting the idea that asking a FS rather than a conventional WTP question may be justifiable in some circumstances, such as in cases of a national emergency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The main objective of this paper is to provide additional empirical evidence of what explains respondent uncertainty in contingent valuation (CV) and how this in turn affects stated willingness to pay (WTP). Air travelers asked to pay a carbon travel tax to offset carbon emissions from flying were asked how likely it is that they will actually pay if the tax is voluntary. When changing the market compliance imperative from a mandatory carbon tax to a voluntary contribution, a third of all air travelers consider it unlikely they will actually pay their stated WTP amount. An ordered probit estimation approach is applied to identify the sources of respondent uncertainty. Besides the bid price, respondent sense of responsibility and belief in the effectiveness of the voluntary carbon market are among the main reasons for the experienced uncertainty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The contingent valuation method (CV) has become a recognised tool for estimating monetary non-market values. Despite the pragmatic acceptance of CV in policy evaluation, the application of CV-based estimates in decision-making remains controversial, as critics argue that CV suffers of hypothetical bias and question its accuracy to reflect non-market values via willingness to pay (WTP) estimates. In this paper we approach the assessment of CV accuracy from a double perspective. First, we assess validity and reliability by comparing CV-based WTP estimates and real monetary contributions to a crowdfunding initiative. Second, we assess construct validity identifying whether changing individual preferences are driven by strictly rational economic behaviour or by other factors that are not consistent with it. For this purpose, we conduct regression analysis using a synthetic panel dataset constructed from two contingent valuation surveys using the Propensity Score Matching method. Our findings suggest that WTP estimates are suitable to infer the economic value of environmental assets. This evidence points towards non-market valuation methods being capable of eliciting rational behaviour from individuals that is free of hypothetical bias. However, hypothetical bias might be lurking in a less researched area, that of market participation, which calls for a rigorous treatment of protest behaviour. • Accuracy of contingent valuation estimates remains controversial. • Real contributions to a crowdfunding are suitable to test for validity. • Propensity score matching is applied to study preference stability and rationality. • Contingent valuation is capable of eliciting rational behaviour from individuals. • Rigorous treatment of protest behaviour reduces hypothetical bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, the results of empirical studies that applied two widely used methods – numerical certainty scale (NCS) and polychotmous choice (PC) – for estimating preference uncertainty adjusted willingness to pay (WTP) in contingent valuation (CV), are summarized. For this review, a number of conclusions are reached. First, there is a lack of consensus about which method is more appropriate for measuring preference uncertainty. Second, although preference uncertainty information has been found useful in detecting the incidence of hypothetical bias in CV studies, a consensus about a standard certainty threshold (or treatment mechanism) at which hypothetical behaviour converges to real behaviour is yet to emerge. Third, insufficient empirical evidence exists about the causal relationship between preference uncertainty scores and the theoretically expected explanatory variables. Finally, the preference uncertainty adjusted PC and NCS models fail to provide a consistent and more efficient welfare estimate compared to the conventional dichotomous choice certainty model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the role of simplified heuristics in the formation of preferences for public goods. Political scientists have suggested that voters use simplified heuristics based on the positions of familiar parties to infer how a proposed policy will affect them and to cast a vote in line with their interests and values. Here, we use a two-stage field-survey experiment to investigate how knowledge of party positions affects policy choices. We followed standard procedures in developing an attribute-based choice experiment on alternative land-use policies in Switzerland. In contrast to the usual formulation, however, the hypothetical costs of the proposed policies were formulated as a percentage change in taxes. The benefit of this formulation relative to the usual absolute money amounts is that the credibility of the (hypothetical) costs for respondents does not depend on respondent income. Furthermore, the formulation allowed us to solicit party positions on the proposed policies. Six out of eight contacted parties provided their positions. We then conducted a split-sample mail survey where we included a table of the party positions with a subsample of the questionnaires. We report six main experimental results. (1) The response rate of the survey was unaffected by the party positions. (2) The proportion of no-choice answers was decreased by forty percent relative to the control. (3) The party information significantly affected the choices directly and in interaction with respondents'' general attitudes towards public spending for nature and landscape conservation and thus affected the way how individuals mapped from general attitudes to preferences for specific policies. (4) The information interacted with educational level in only eight out of forty choice sets, suggesting that even the more educated relied on simplified heuristics. (5) Respondents who knew the party positions were more sensitive to the tax attribute. (6) For respondents with medium and higher tax bills, the resulting willingness-to-pay estimates were decreased by a factor of two to ten relative to the control. These findings suggest that the party information helped the respondents to articulate more consistent preferences than in the treatment without the party information. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we present the results of a unique time series analysis of contingent values and models for migratory bird protection based on an identical contingent valuation (CV) survey carried out over a three year time period since the first bird flu outbreak in 2003. Although there exists no scientific evidence for a direct relationship, migratory birds are believed to play an important role in spreading the bird flu virus worldwide. The time series analysis allows us to test the temporal stability of stated preferences for migratory bird protection and at the same time examine indirectly the possible impact of increased media attention and public awareness levels regarding the bird flu. We test the impact of the bird flu on public willingness to pay (WTP) for migratory bird protection in the final 2005 survey whilst accounting for procedural variance introduced by sequencing and question ordering-effects, but we are unable to demonstrate a direct negative relationship. A novelty of the study presented here is that respondents in the CV surveys are given the opportunity to pay an annual money amount or a one-time-off lump-sum. Annual WTP values appear to be significantly higher than one-time-off WTP values, suggesting a negative implicit discount rate. Self-selection bias is an important reason for the observed differences. We find that respondents who agree to pay annually differ significantly from respondents who wish to pay a lump-sum in terms of their underlying preferences and motivations towards migratory bird protection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores and contrasts the different social processes of valuation now appearing as economic means of valuing the environment. Monetary valuation via stated preference approaches has been criticised for assuming well formed and informed preferences and excluding a range of sustainability concerns such as rights, fairness and equity. Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) in small groups is a novel hybrid of economic and political approaches which raises the prospect of a transformative and moralising experience. Critics of standard contingent valuation approaches have advocated this as offering a way forward. However there has been a lack of clarity as to the means of obtaining values, the expected outcomes and their role. Moving to group settings of deliberation raises concepts of social willingness to pay and accept which are distinct from an aggregate of individual value, although this does not seem to have been widely recognised. A new classification of values is presented appropriate to the literature trying to merge economic and political processes. Values associated with the individual may be exchange values, charitable contributions or fair prices, while social values can be speculative, expressive or arbitrated. The use of DMV is shown to result in different values due to variations in the institutional setting and process of valuation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper addresses the lack of empirical evaluation of the use of web based surveys in the context of contingent valuation surveys. We compare, using a case study, in-person interviews with web based surveys regarding response rate, information additivity effects and respondents'' attitudes towards paying. The web based survey had a much lower response (5.1%) than the in-person interviewing (84%). We find the web based contingent valuation surveys to be neither more susceptible to information additivity effects nor more prone to zero protest responses. We conclude in favor of the use of web based surveys, namely in Portugal, where the number of Internet users is rapidly increasing, although further research efforts are required on their use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the implications of an environmental policy for growth performances. We develop a model where growth is driven by human capital accumulation. Firms invest in research to develop new technologies to reduce their pollution emissions and education is treated as product which not only enhances the productivity of individuals but also enters in their preferences. We find that a tighter environmental policy can promote growth. The reason is that a higher tax on pollution drives the prices of goods whose production is polluting up. This, in turn, enhances the willingness of individuals to acquire education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper applies a typology adapted from the consumer psychology literature to a Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) survey. We argue that the typology is helpful as a way of identifying responses that contain useful information on preferences for the environmental good in question, relative to those which are unlikely to contain such information. Applying this framework to a CVM study of agri-environmental payments in Germany, we find that some 90% of responses are preference-revealing; this distribution changes when the framing of the good is changed. The typology may be of most use during the design stage of future CVM studies, since it enables researchers to increase the fraction of responses that are useful. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The market stall, or valuation workshop, has recently been proposed as a way of addressing some of the limitations of conventional stated preference analysis. In this paper, we attempt to combine a participatory technique similar to the “citizens'' jury” with choice modelling, a stated preference technique increasingly being applied in environmental economics. Our focus is on how changes in the context of decision-making (between choices made in isolation and those made in a group setting, and between choices made on individual well being versus collective criteria) produce differences in estimated welfare measures. The empirical context used is that of water quality improvements under the Water Framework Directive, the most significant reform in water legislation in the European Union for many years. We find that the choice experiment format can be successfully implemented in a valuation workshop and that moving from individual to collective choice produces, in this instance, a rather interesting change in both values and preferences which depends on the respondent''s interests. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines empirically the relative influence of the degree of endangerment of wildlife species and their stated likeability on individuals'' allocation of funds for their conservation. To do this, it utilises data obtained from the IUCN Red List, and likeability and fund allocation data obtained from two serial surveys of a sample of the Australian public who were requested to assess 24 Australian wildlife species from three animal classes: mammals, birds and reptiles. Between the first and second survey, respondents were provided with extra information about the focal species. This information resulted in the dominance of endangerment as the major influence on the allocation of funding of respondents for the conservation of the focal wildlife species. Our results throw doubts on the proposition in the literature that the likeability of species is the dominant influence on willingness to pay for conservation of wildlife species. Furthermore, because the public''s allocation of fund for conserving wildlife species seems to be more sensitive to information about the conservation status of species than to factors influencing their likeability, greater attention to providing accurate information about the former than the latter seems justified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We review the literature regarding the aggregation of benefit value estimates for non-market goods. Two case studies are presented through which we develop an approach to aggregation which applies the spatial analytic capabilities of a geographical information system to combine geo-referenced physical, census and survey data to estimate a spatially sensitive valuation function. These case studies show that the common reliance upon political rather than economic jurisdictions and the use of sample mean values within the aggregation process are liable to lead to significant errors in resultant values. We also highlight the fact that for resources with use values then we should expect overall values to reduce with increasing distance from such sites, but that changes in the choice of welfare measure will determine whether such ‘distance decay’ is to be expected within values stated by those who are presently non-users. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for future improvements to the methodology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]