Environmental Values
Environmental Values 3(1994): 351-368. doi: 10.3197/096327194776679629
Contingent valuation of people's willingness to pay has rapidly become the method of choice to value all manner of environmental damages. The correct measure is, however, the sum people require to compensate them for such losses, an amount which will normally be far larger than their willingness to pay. And on present evidence, responses to contingent valuation questions are not likely to represent any measure of economic values. The results of these valuation practices will, therefore, bias environmental policies and distort incentives.
KEYWORDS: Contingent valuation, endowment effect, valuation
CITATIONS in other Environmental Values articles:
Valuation as Revelation and Reconciliation. Tim O'Riordan
The Development of Environmental Thinking in Economics. Clive L. Spash
The Disvalue of 'Contingent Valuation' and the Problem of the 'Expectation Gap' Laura Westra
Teleological Presuppositions, and the 'Expectation Gap': A Response to Laura Westra Peter Lucas
Ethical Motives and Charitable Contributions in Contingent Valuation: Empirical Evidence from Social Psychology and Economics Clive L. Spash
Contingent Valuation: Comparing Participant Performance in Group-Based Approaches and Personal Interviews. Nele Lienhoop and Douglas C. MacMillan
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