Municipal commonage policy and livestock owners: Findings from the Eastern Cape,South Africa

The new African National Congress government announced after 1994 that municipal commonage would be a pillar of their land reform programme. The Department of Land Affairs spearheaded this by acquiring new land to complement the existing ‘old’ commonages. The aim of old commonage was to supplement the income of poor urban residents through the subsistence user system whereas new commonage was intended as a ‘stepping stone’ for emergent farmers. We investigated the differences between old and new commonage farmers as well as how they perceived the Makana local municipality's capacity to manage the commonage. The results showed that local institutions were weak. Only 46% of the old commonage farmers were members of a local livestock association whereas 74% of the new commonage farmers were members. Most old commonage farmers (59%) were dissatisfied with local government's management of the commonage. In contrast, only 37% of the new commonage farmers were dissatisfied with the management of the commonage. There were no differences between old and new commonage farmers in terms of livestock owners’ characteristics and mean annual net direct-use value of livestock. There were also no differences in the age of the two types of commonage farmers. Furthermore, there was no association between the type of commonage and level of education. The mean annual net direct-use value of livestock on old commonage was R6308 compared with R9707 on new commonage. Although the income from livestock for new commonage farmers varied slightly from that of old commonage farmers, the annual productive output per farmer on old commonage was R473 ha⁻¹, three times higher than that of new commonage farmers which was R134 ha⁻¹. We suggest that new land policy legislation is needed in which poverty as well as the legal arrangements between all stakeholders is clearly defined. Furthermore, national departments need to be more involved with local municipalities to increase local management capacity.     

Consumers' willingness to pay for organic rice: Insights from a non-hypothetical experiment in Indonesia

As in many high-income countries, there is increasing awareness towards organic farming in many low- and middle-income countries. Sustained local demand is an essential requirement for further adoption of organic farming by smallholders, who typically have only limited access to export markets. Until now, only few studies have explored the local willingness to pay (WTP) for organic products in low- and middle-income countries in real purchase situations. This paper analyses the consumers' WTP for organic rice in urban and suburban Indonesia using an incentive-compatible auction based on the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) approach. We further study the effect of income and a randomised information treatment about the benefits of organic food on respondents' WTP. Estimates suggest that respondents are willing to pay an average price premium of 20% compared with what they paid for conventional rice outside our experiment. However, our results also indicate that raising consumers' WTP further is complex. Showing participants a video about health or, alternatively, environmental benefits of organic food was not effective in further raising WTP. The results can be used as a basis for the design of alternative awareness measures to increase knowledge, interest and demand for organic food.     

Attitudes,willingness to pay,and stated values for recreation use fees at an urban proximate forest

Studies have combined contingent valuation and attitude theory in models directly predicting willingness to pay recreation fees. Little research, however, has modeled predictions of attitudes toward fees on both the intention to pay (WTP) and stated payment amount ($WTP) simultaneously. This article addresses that knowledge gap using onsite survey data from 1068 recreationists at the McDonald-Dunn forest in Oregon. Attitudes toward paying an annual fee at this forest were directly associated with WTP and were among the strongest predictors of WTP. Respondents with supportive attitudes toward paying the annual fee were more willing to pay than those who were opposed. The strength of attitudes also influenced WTP, with those respondents having stronger opposition being least likely to pay. Attitudes toward paying a fee were indirectly (i.e., mediation) related to the stated payment amount ($WTP), suggesting that payment is influenced by intention to pay (WTP), and this intention is partially a function of attitudes about fees.     

The direct use value of municipal commonage goods and services to urban households in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

To redress past racial discrepancies in ownership and tenure, the ANC government of South Africa initiated programmes to make land accessible to the previously disadvantaged. A key component of the national land reform programme was the provision of commonage lands to urban municipalities for use by the urban poor. However, there has been no assessment of the contribution that urban commonage makes to previously disadvantaged households. This study assessed the economic benefits of the commonage programme to local households, through an in-depth survey of 90 households across three small towns in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We examined the marketed and non-marketed consumptive direct-use values of land-based livelihoods on commonage, calculated via the ‘own reported values’ approach. The results indicate that a proportion of South Africa's urban population rely to some degree on municipal commonage for part of their livelihoods. Commonage contributions to total livelihood incomes ranged between 14 and 20%. If the contributions from commonage were excluded, the incomes of over 10% of households in each study town would drop below the poverty line. Overall, the value of harvests from commonage was worth over R1 000 (US$ 142) per hectare per year and over R4.7 million (US$ 0.68 million) per commonage per year. However, the extent and nature of use and reliance was not uniform among households, so that we developed a typology of commonage users, with four types being identified. However, rapidly growing urban populations and high levels of poverty potentially threaten the sustainability of commonage resource use. Yet the national land reform programme focuses largely on the transfer of land to municipalities and not on sustainable management. Municipalities, in turn, invest relatively little in commonage management, and the little they do is focussed on livestock production. Non-timber forest products are not considered at all, even though this study shows that they are a vital resource for the urban poor, notably for energy and construction materials.     

Choice of Rice Production Practices in Ghana: A Comparison of Willingness to Pay and Preference Space Estimates

Rice has been identified as an important food security crop in Ghana. However, there is a production deficit and new technologies to reduce the deficit are not widely adopted. Although poor adoption by farmers’ is often linked to constraints such as access to information, farmers’ perceptions of the technologies are also important. We apply an advanced discrete choice experiment to evaluate farmers’ preferences for rice production practices. Specifically, we generate willingness to pay (WTP) estimates using willingness to pay space (WS) and compare these with values from the indirect or preference space (PS) method. Our modelling also accounts for the effects on WTP estimates of farmers’ stated attribute importance (SAI) information. Empirical results from WS and PS models reveal that on average, farmers value higher yields and are negatively affected by higher risk of crop failure and labour requirements. Comparing the performance of the two models, we find the WS model provides a superior fit to our data and reduces the likelihood of producing implausible WTP estimates. Further, SAI inclusion did not produce much variation in our WTP estimates.     

Impact of Purchase Intentions on Full and Partial Bids in BDM Auctions: Willingness‐to‐pay for Organic and Local Blueberries

We conduct a series of Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) auctions to elicit consumers' willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for organic and local blueberries. Participants' intentions to purchase the auction product were collected to determine how purchase intentions for the auction products affect their partial bids (WTP for an additional attribute) as well as full bids (WTP for the auction product). The results suggest, as expected, that full bids from participants with purchase intention for the auction product are significantly higher than those from participants without purchase intention. However, the partial bids, which are inferred from the full bids, for organic and local attributes are consistent across participants with different purchase intentions. Therefore, if the focus of a BDM auction is consumers' WTP for product attributes, purchase intentions may not be an important influence on the value.     

Using an economic experiment to estimate willingness‐to‐pay for a new maternal nutrient supplement in Ghana

Scaling up access to supplements designed to prevent undernutrition, such as new small‐quantity lipid‐based nutrient supplements (SQ‐LNS), may require distribution via both public channels and retail markets. The viability of SQ‐LNS retail markets will hinge on household‐level demand. We use an economic experiment to characterize initial willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for a maternal SQ‐LNS product in Ghana. WTP is positive for most participants, though below the estimated cost of production for many. WTP varies depending on income, assets, and parity status. These findings have implications for the design of public health policy and hybrid public–private delivery mechanisms.     

Consumer Willingness to Pay Price Premiums for Credence Attributes of Livestock Products – A Meta‐Analysis

Livestock products, such as dairy and beef, are increasingly regarded as resource intensive and concerns are raised about animal welfare and environmental sustainability. As a result, consumer awareness of these issues has led to an increasing demand for products with high quality credence attributes (CAs) that cannot be directly experienced or identified. A number of empirical studies have attempted to estimate consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for CAs, which represents the additional value placed on the benefits that they derive from those products. However, there are significant differences in these WTP estimates, mainly because both consumers' perceptions of CAs and the conditions of the studies vary. We conduct a meta‐analysis to examine consumers' WTP for different CAs of livestock products based on a systematic review of relevant studies. Meta‐regression models are used to control for the heterogeneity of WTP estimates and investigate factors that affect the estimation of WTP. Overall 555 estimates derived from 94 papers reporting WTP are included in this study. Meta‐regression results establish the presence of systematic WTP variation associated with types of products, CAs, and locations, though also indicate that WTP is subject to systematic variation associated with study methodology.     

Predicting Consumers' Acceptability of Pesticide-Free Fresh Produce in Canada's Maritime Provinces

ABSTRACT

This study examines consumers' willingness to purchase pesticide-free fresh produce (PFFP) in Canada's Maritime Provinces. Households' decisions in purchasing organic foods are reflected in their willingness-to-pay (WTP) a premium for obtaining these types of products. WTP was modeled as a function of a series of explanatory variables including sociodemographic, socioeconomic, media, and public awareness about the impact of pesticide use on health and environment. Results suggest that Maritimes' consumers tend to pay the premium because they believe that the use of pesticide in conventional farming is life threatening. In addition, males and individuals with bachelor degrees are more willing to pay the premium, but those who visit farmers' markets on a regular basis are less likely to pay a premium for pesticide-free fresh fruit and vegetables. Finally, results show that media have no impact on consumers' decisions to purchase pesticide-free fresh produce.     

Do consumers value nutritional labels?

The European Union is contemplating making the provision ofnutritional labels in food products mandatory. Using data collectedfrom food shoppers, we assessed consumers' valuation of nutritionallabels by analysing their willingness to pay a premium for abox of cookies with a nutritional label. On average, the meanwillingness to pay (WTP) for a box of cookies with a nutritionallabel is estimated to be about 11 per cent above the price ofthe box of cookies without a nutritional label. Consistent withprior expectations, our results also indicate a difference betweenthe WTP of individuals suffering from diet-related health problems(estimated mean 13 per cent) and those who do not suffer anydiet-related health problems (estimated mean 9 per cent).     

Can willingness‐to‐pay values be manipulated? Evidence from an organic food experiment in China

Human behaviors are driven by implicit and explicit motives. Psychologists have developed two main tools, namely time pressure and cognitive load, to disentangle the two motives. This implies values of willingness to pay (WTP) may be sensitive to time pressure and cognitive load levels in practice. An experiment with 233 students was conducted in China to study the willingness to pay for organic food with consideration of different time pressures and cognitive load levels. Results show that (1) increasing cognitive load could significantly reduce consumers’ WTP for organic food; and (2) time pressure does not have a significant impact on WTP values. Such results suggest researchers should be particularly cautious about the cognitive load situations of respondents during a WTP survey.     

Design Factors Influencing Willingness‐to‐Pay Estimates in the Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak (BDM) Mechanism and the Non‐hypothetical Choice Experiment: A Case of Biofortified Maize in Zambia

Two of the experimental methods used to estimate willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for a non‐market good, the Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak (BDM) mechanism and the non‐hypothetical choice experiment (nHCE) often lead to significantly different WTP estimates, complicating the choice between the methods. In Zambia the same group of researchers used both techniques to evaluate WTP for orange maize, which provides more vitamin A than other varieties. This provided an opportunity to analyse the sources of the difference. In the BDM experiment, one group of respondents was provided with more training opportunities than the other, and made higher bids. Accounting for lexicographic behaviour in the nHCE reduced the estimated WTP. These two design factors together resulted in a decrease in the WTP difference for orange maize (1,279–632 ZMK) although the difference remains statistically significant. More training was also shown to eliminate the effects of different orders in which maize varieties were presented.     

Meta-analysis of consumer's willingness-to-pay premiums for certified wood products

Consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) price premiums for environmentally certified wood products has been frequently estimated using stated preference methods. Estimates of WTP premiums for certified wood products over non-certified options reported in the literature range from 1.0% to 39.3%. This paper describes a meta-analysis used to determine the key factors associated with WTP price premium estimates by examining data from 19 different studies conducted around the world. Results of Bayesian hierarchical models show that frequently purchased wood products and wood products with lower base prices tend to capture higher percentage premiums. Survey administration method was also a statistically significant factor influencing variations in WTP estimates. Results show that conjoint analysis elicited inflated WTP estimates toward certified wood products compared with contingent valuation methods. Reported WTP estimates have increased in recent years. Recommendations to reduce the error of WTP estimates toward certified wood products and improve the validity of experimental studies are provided.     

Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Seafood Made in Europe

Sustainability of increasing relevance also for seafood markets. The aim of this contribution is to analyze consumer preferences and their willingness to pay (WTP) for different sustainability claims, and to identify consumer segments according to their WTP. The contingent valuation method was applied to elicit consumers’ WTP in eight European countries. The WTP varies between seven and almost 20%, depending on attribute and country. Three consumer groups become apparent: the largest group without any additional WTP, a smaller group with a moderate additional WTP of plus 17%, and a very small group with an additional WTP of more than 40%. Clear differences between countries are obvious regarding preferences for different sustainability attributes, particularly in the segment with the highest WTP. A fraction of the consumers is willing to pay significantly higher prices for sustainably produced fish from Europe: given that trustful standards are applied and well communicated.     

Convergent validity in contingent valuation: an application to the willingness to pay for national climate change mitigation targets in Germany

This stated preferences survey determines the willingness to pay (WTP) for climate change mitigation policies using a representative sample of the German population. WTP is compared across three valuation question formats in a split sample design: the dichotomous choice (DC) referendum, the dissonance minimizing (DM) referendum and the two‐way payment ladder (TWPL). The influence of multinational cooperation on WTP is assessed by variation in the hypothetical scenarios. We demonstrate that the DM referendum and the TWPL, two question formats that induce similar response incentives, yield equal mean WTPs. Multinational cooperation did not change WTP in any of the question formats. Implications for current contingent valuation practice are discussed.     

Using Geographically Weighted Choice Models to Account for the Spatial Heterogeneity of Preferences

In this paper, we investigate the use of geographically weighted choice models for modelling spatially clustered preferences. We argue that this is a useful way of generating highly‐detailed spatial maps of willingness to pay for environmental conservation, given the costs of collecting data. The data used in this study come from a discrete choice experiment survey of public preferences for the implementation of a new national forest management and protection programme in Poland. We combine these with high‐resolution spatial data related to local forest characteristics. Using locally estimated discrete choice models we obtain location‐specific estimates of willingness to pay (WTP). Variation in these estimates is explained by characteristics of the forests close to where respondents live. These results are compared with those obtained from a more typical, two stage procedure which uses Bayesian posterior means of the mixed logit model random parameters to calculate location‐specific estimates of WTP. We find that there are indeed strong spatial patterns to the benefits of changes to the management to national forests. People living in areas with more species‐rich forests and those living nearer bigger areas of mixed forests have significantly different WTP values than those living in other locations. This kind of information potentially enables a better distributional analysis of the gains and losses from changes to natural resource management, and better targeting of investments in forest quality.     

Comparing results of ranking conjoint analyses,best–worst scaling and discrete choice experiments in a nonhypothetical context

This study assesses the comparability of discrete choice experiment (DCE), ranking conjoint analysis (RCA) and multiprofile best–worst scaling (BWS) in a nonhypothetical context in terms of estimated partworths, willingness to pay (WTP), response consistency and external validity. Overall, the results suggest that: (i) the conjoint analysis formats that were used in this study provide similar estimated WTP, but different estimated partworths and computed external validity; (ii) the inclusion of the full ranking information in the estimation of the parameters of interest affects the estimated partworths, but not the estimated WTP; and (iii) it is more appropriate to use multiprofile BWS over DCE and RCA because it has better predictive power of consumers’ preferences and provides estimated WTP comparable to those obtained in the others conjoint analysis formats. The BWS’ cognitive process could be considered clearness for participants implying significant increment of its predictive power.     

Statistical Modelling of Incentive Design Under Limited Information ‐ The Case of Public Access to Farmland

This paper explores the use of statistical modelling to aid efficient policy design for the provision of environmental goods on farms under conditions of adverse selection. The specific case of incentive‐based schemes to enhance the supply of public access to farmland is used as an example. A range of site willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) distributions are used to explore the benefits derived from policies designed under different levels of information. Where no individual farm information is available, low payment rates are optimal, but efficient market creation may not be possible. Increasing the information set allows discretion in pricing and entry: optimal payment rates and net benefits are higher and the pay‐off from procuring improved information can be substantial. Such benefits are reduced where there is a welfare cost associated with increased government expenditure. Optimal policies are sensitive to the skewness of the WTP distributions. Mechanisms for increasing the information set available to policy makers are discussed.     

The Impacts of Elicitation Context on Stated Preferences for Agricultural Landscapes

Statements of willingness to pay (WTP) have been shown to be dependent upon the framing of the hypothetical market. In this paper we investigate the effects of variations in the timing and location of choice experiment questions concerned with conservation of a UK national park, as research involving measurement of psychological well‐being suggests potential differences for the same individual dependent upon when and where preferences are elicited. We apply the choice experiment technique to the valuation of changes in upland agricultural and semi‐natural landscapes in the Peak District National Park in the UK, to investigate whether timing and location of elicitation (context) affects the value associated with changes in ecosystem services under different management regimes. Four treatments are employed – using the same sample of individuals answering the same choice scenarios – to measure WTP ex‐ante (off site), in situ (on site), and ex‐post at two different time intervals (off site). We show that our on‐site (in situ) treatment generates very different estimates of preferences than any of the off‐site treatments. That stated preferences associated with environmental goods are so context dependent may have implications for the use of stated preferences in policy analysis in terms of identifying how environmental policy is funded and the divergence in value attributed to sampling different populations.     

Vietnamese Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Safe Pork in Hanoi

Abstract

Food safety is one of the main concerns and the biggest challenge for consumers due to its direct influence on human health. In order to deal with unsafe food situation, the demand for food hygiene has increased in recent years as well as the consequent increase in price accepted by consumers. This study aimed to estimate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) and to examine the determining factors influencing their WTP for safe pork using double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DBDC CVM). The data were collected from a survey with a sample size of 134 respondents in Hanoi, Vietnam using two sets of questionnaires on the consumption of rib and shoulder of pork. The results revealed that the percentages of the consumers willing to pay a premium for more hygiene shoulder and rib of pork were 81.75% and 73.01%, respectively. The mean WTP was 129,000 VND (US$6.07) for both safe shoulder and rib, 48.7% and 37.8% higher than the regular market price, respectively. The results showed that consumers’ awareness of the risk of unhealthy pork, household income and expenditure were the positive determinants to WTP; meanwhile, the amount of pork consumption per month negatively affected the willingness to pay more for shoulder and rib of pork.